


Escorted

by throughsuburbs



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Angst, Book Adaptation, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Lots of Sex, Oral Sex, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:08:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 53,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28794411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/throughsuburbs/pseuds/throughsuburbs
Summary: She hired her to take her virginity... but now she wants even more. Delphine might be a popular romance writer, but she's never been anything but a flop with sex and love in her personal life. Still a virgin at twenty-six and increasingly frustrated by her inexperience, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She hires a talented, sexy female escort to take care of her inconvenient virginity. She assumes one time with Cosima will be enough, but she never dreams how much pleasure she can make her feel. Once isn't nearly enough. Twice isn't enough either. Soon, she becomes one of her regular clients. Delphine knows that nothing would be as foolish as falling in love with her paid escort, but she's never been wise with her heart. And, despite her professionalism, Cosima doesn't seem entirely immune either.This is an adaptation of the book Escorted by Claire Kent.
Relationships: Delphine Cormier/Cosima Niehaus
Comments: 46
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, people.
> 
> This is a book adaptation so, before we can start, I have to warn you something: 
> 
> (!) COSIMA IS INTERSEXUAL. The original story is about a cis man and a cis woman. I could adapt it to a cis WLW story, but some important aspects of it would be left out. If this bothers you, I suggest you to skip it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this trip with me. :)

Delphine Cormier sat in a crowded coffee shop in downtown Toronto, nursed a caramel mocha, and tried to pretend she wasn’t nervous. 

She was nervous. So nervous, she literally jumped when her cell phone buzzed from her purse. She fumbled to pull it out and gave a silly giggle of relief when she heard Celine on the other end.

“Is she there yet?” Celine asked.

“No. I told you. We’re not supposed to meet until three o’clock. Not for fifteen more minutes.”

“I thought she might be early.”

“Then why did you call?”

“I’m dying here! You have to call me the minute you’re done.”

Delphine laughed, relaxing a little in the face of Celine’s characteristic, pestering impatience. “I will. I told you I would. Who else would I call?”

“Definitely not any of your other acquaintances. I can’t believe you’re really doing this. You get to have all the fun.”

Shifting in her seat restlessly, Delphine tried for tartness as she asked, “You call this fun?”

“Well, you’re going to be paying her a lot of money. It sure as hell better be fun for you.”

To her infinite mortification, Delphine blushed hotly, even sitting alone at a table in a crowded coffee shop. She mumbled something incoherent.

Celine cackled. “What was that?”

“Shut up. I’m embarrassed enough. I’m still not sure if I’m going to go through with this.”

“Well, definitely don’t go through with it if she gives off any creepy vibes. I mean it. The slightest twinge of weirdness and you get out of there.” Delphine’s cousin’s voice had altered. She was serious now.

“I know that. I’m twenty-six years old and not a fool. I have a pretty good woman-sensor. But I can’t imagine she’ll be creepy. I mean, you got about fourteen referrals for her, didn’t you?”

“Sixteen,” Celine corrected. “The woman must be a god. I’ve never heard such raves. Some of these women are frigid, middle-aged harpies, but get them started on this girl…”  


Delphine cleared her throat and felt the nervous jitters in her belly again. “Um, yeah. So that’s good anyway. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to make sure it’s with the right person.”

“You sound nervous.”

“Of course, I’m nervous,” Delphine snapped, lashing out as her anxiety started to rise.

Celine’s voice changed again. “Delphine, you don’t have to do this, you know. There’s absolutely nothing weird or unnatural about you—”

“I know that. But I’m sick of still being a…” Delphine lowered her voice so the other patrons couldn’t hear her. “Still being a virgin. It’s ridiculous. And I’m sick of waiting around hoping some woman will sweep me off my feet and take care of this inconvenient little detail.”

“Delphine—”

“We’ve been over and over this,” Delphine interrupted again. “Do we have to rehash it all?”

Delphine had made it through high school and college without having sex, mostly because she’d been futilely in love with her best friend for all those years—a sweet, adorable soccer player who’d never been into her that way. No one else she found remotely attractive was interested in her at all.

She’d dated on and off, but it had never gotten as far as the bedroom. In the years since, even after she’d realized that her friend just wasn’t the woman for her, she’d grown gradually more and more self-conscious about her sexual inexperience. And it just got worse as she got older and everyone assumed she had a typical social life. Because she was so self-conscious, she kept pushing people away. She felt caught in a ruthless cycle and didn’t know how to break free of it.

“I’ve been thinking about it for months. It’s kept me from getting close to anyone—even the few women who’ve seemed mildly interested.” Lori shook her head and took another long swig of her coffee drink. “Besides, the irony is becoming bitterly painful. I’m lauded as the Goddess of Romance and looked to for swoon-worthy love scenes. And yet I have no experience at all.

For the fourteen-zillionth time, Delphine wondered how she’d somehow become a bestselling romance novelist, when she was a complete failure at love.

“Well, it is pretty remarkable how hot your sex scenes are,” Celine ventured, an edge of laughter in her voice.

Delphine gave a little huff. “Anyone can write good sex scenes. All you need is some basic knowledge of anatomy, the right vocabulary, and some choice reading material. Experience has nothing to do with it.”

Celine cackled again on the other end of the line.

“Anyway,” Delphine said, noticing a particularly attractive woman enter the coffee shop alone. “I better hang up. She’ll be here in five minutes.”

“Call me immediately afterwards. Immediately! Do you hear me?”

After reassuring her cousin that she’d waste no time on reporting about the infamous meeting, Delphine slid her phone back into her purse. She noticed that the attractive woman she’d seen enter had gone directly up to the counter without looking around like she was meeting someone.

She drooped slightly in her chair. It would have been nice if she were the woman she’d arranged to meet. Even with the incongruously grey braided hair, she was one of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen.

Delphine glanced around the shop to make sure another lone woman wasn’t looking for her. Seeing no one, she turned to discreetly observe the woman again.

She was far too young to have that hair color already. Mid-thirties at the latest. Maybe she dyed her hair. Her small, lean form moved with both power and grace, and her black trousers and red shirt looked expensive. A business woman, maybe, although she didn’t carry a briefcase. There was something about her that appealed to her—beyond her physical appearance. Her eyes roamed the room idly as she waited for her coffee, and her expression was coolly confident.

She seemed experienced, Delphine realized. Like she’d lived a full, complex life before she’d even reached thirty-five. She wondered what it would be like to marry such a woman—to have the weight of that experience at the kitchen table every morning, in bed with you every night.

She decided the heroin of her next novel would be burdened with that sort of deep experience.

And she’d have grey hair.

Glancing at her watch, she noticed it was just after three o’clock. Surely this girl wouldn’t be late for a potential new client.

She was looking at the entrance with a slightly peeved expression when a voice startled her out of her impatience.

“Delphine.”

She jerked her head around and inexplicably saw the compelling woman standing next to her table with her cup of coffee. She blinked up at her, wondering vaguely if she’d noticed her leering at her.

“Is it Delphine?”

She nodded mutely.

The woman smiled — an urbane, sensual smile that ignited even her dark green eyes. She reached a hand out to her in greeting. “I’m Cosima.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get used to it.

Delphine’s mouth dropped open and she gaped at her.

While she was normally a friendly, outgoing person who handled social situations with ease, she was already insecure about this meeting. And her shock at having the random woman she’d admired turn out to be the one with whom she had this particular appointment left her speechless and completely discombobulated.

Cosima’s elegant eyebrows lifted slightly. “Cosima Niehaus. We were scheduled to meet, right?”

She had to assume the name was a professional appellation. Surely no loving father would have saddled a little girl with a name like that. The girl would have no choice but to go into the profession Cosima had obviously chosen.

“Yes,” she said at last, belatedly pulling herself together. She stood up and shook her hand. Her grip was warmer than she’d expected. She looked so cool and polished that she’d thought her hand would be a cooler temperature. “Sorry. It’s nice to meet you.”

She nodded politely and smiled again. “Do you want to talk here?”

Delphine glanced nervously at the other seat at her table. She definitely wanted to meet with her where there were plenty of people around, but the kind of conversation they’d be having wasn’t one you wanted to carry on with dozens of ears within range.

“We could walk over to the park,” Cosima suggested with easy courtesy. “Still a public place, but not so crowded.”

Delphine agreed and grabbed her purse and mocha. She’d made a point of not dressing up for this meeting, so she was wearing her favorite pair of jeans and a dark green vintage jacket of crushed velvet that matched her eyes. She’d pulled her blonde hair back in a low ponytail and wore no make-up except mascara. She’d instinctively known that dressing up would make her even more nervous.

As they crossed the street, Delphine asked her companion, “So what kind of name is Cosima?” She wanted to make casual conversation and she’d genuinely wanted to know the answer since Celine first put this woman’s name in front of her as a suitable candidate.

Cosima’s mouth tilted up on one side. “It means order and decency in Greek.”

“So it’s your real name?” It might be too personal a question for this context, but she’d always been overly curious.

“Cosima is. My last name has been changed.” She gave a huff of dry laughter that Delphine found remarkably appealing.

She snickered a little, instinctively drawn to wit in any form. “So were you named after the German composer or?”

Cosima gave her a curious look, as if she were mildly startled at her nosy questions. But before Delphine could start to feel self-conscious about what might be inappropriate behavior on her part for meetings such as these, she said, “No. After the fourth-century saint who was martyred with his brother and are considered the patron saints of medical doctors. My father would never have named a child after someone as innocuous as an composer, however brilliant the composer happened to be.”

“Ah,” she replied, “So your father liked the warriors.”

“Exactly.” Idly, Cosima put a hand on her back to guide her over to an empty bench in the city park.

Delphine sat on the bench and looked up at her, noting that she was ridiculously pretty in the sunlight, with a breeze blowing against her dark clothes. “I suppose your father must be especially proud of you then,” she said wryly.

Even she knew—as soon as she spoke the words—that the comment was far too presumptuous for first acquaintance. She bit her lip and felt a pang of guilt and embarrassment.  
To her relief, Cosima didn’t look offended. She just looked off in the distance and murmured, “Oh, he’s proud all right.”

The note of bitterness told Delphine something about this woman’s feelings for her father. There was a whole story there, a mystery to unravel.

But it was none of Delphine’s business and wasn’t at all what she was here for. Pulling herself back to the purpose of this meeting, she felt a new wave of self-consciousness.  
What the hell was she doing here?

Cosima sat down next to her on the bench and sipped her coffee, her expression becoming professional again. “I always meet with prospective clients to ensure we’re on the same page before we schedule an engagement.”

Delphine nodded, dropping her eyes to stare at her hands in her lap.

“Did you have any questions about the prices your friend explained to you?” Cosima asked. “You’ll pay for an entire evening. That’s the base price. I offer nothing lower than that.”

She looked up at her, frowning. She didn’t have a website like some escorts, instead relying on personal referrals, but details Celine had gotten from the women she’d talked to were quite clear. She was a professional woman. Not an idiot. “Yes, I was able to understand the services you offer and what you charge for them,” she said, her tone a little snippy.

Cosima’s mouth twitched, so slightly she almost didn’t catch it. “Good. I just wanted to make it clear that you pay for the entire evening, whether or not you use it. I don’t hire myself out by the hour.”

For some reason, her dry tone made Delphine want to snicker again. She stifled it, in case she would mistake it for mockery. “Understood.”  
“We can do whatever you like for the evening. I can act as escort, play a part if you want or provide general companionship. If you’re interested in anything sexual, that will cost extra.”

Delphine couldn’t believe she was sitting here, in the middle of a park in downtown Seattle, having this conversation. Her cheeks burned involuntarily, but she wasn’t as mortified as she’d expected. Cosima was so business-like and matter-of-fact about the situation that it helped Delphine feel that way too.

“I thought I made my interests clear when we talked on the phone,” she said.

Cosima nodded. “Of course. The prices differ for oral on you, oral on me, and full intercourse.”

A nagging question that had been bugging her for a few days prompted her to ask, “Who would pay you that much money for you to get the blow job?”

Again, that slight twitch of Cosima’s mouth. She wasn’t even sure it meant anything—her expression was generally so calm as to be stoic. But she found that occasional little quiver of her mouth the most appealing thing about him. “Women have different desires when they make use of my services. Some find giving more thrilling than receiving. Some simply want the practice.”

Delphine thought about that for a moment. It was something she’d never even considered before.

Cosima cleared her throat, bringing her attention back to Delphine. “Perhaps you can give me a little information about your goals for this engagement.”

She nodded. “Right. Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t pay this much money for a date.” She took a breath. Summoned all her fortitude and courage. “I want to have sex.”

“Yes, but what are your goals for the sex? Are you looking for a particular mood or brand of excitement? Do you just want to relieve tension? Get something you can’t get from other partners? I’m not trying to pry into your personal motivations, but I need a little direction if we’re to make this a successful engagement.”

“Right.” She shifted on the bench. Told herself she would be paying this woman a lot of money a few days from now so she had nothing to be embarrassed about. And surely she’d encountered a lot of stranger things in her line of work. “I want to have sex because I haven’t had it before. Yet.”

To her infinite relief, Cosima didn’t even bat an eye. “I see. Did you have any specific details you wanted to play out? A particular fantasy?”

“No fantasy. I just want to get it over with.” When she realized how that must have sounded, she shot her a rueful look. “That came out worse than I meant it. I’d like it to be good, of course. As good as possible, I mean. I don’t have any unrealistic expectations. No romanticizing or anything.”

Cosima nodded, her brows pulling together like she was reflecting. “Do you have oral experience?”

She shook her head with a long sigh. She seemed to have gone past embarrassment now to a weird state of restless resignation. “No. Nothing really. I’ve had some make-out sessions, but they weren’t very good and I couldn’t really get into them. I can’t even get myself off very well.” She slanted a sharp look over at her face to check her expression, but she still showed no signs of surprise.

“In that case, it might be a good idea to start with oral. There’s a better chance of your reaching climax that way.”

Despite the bizarre situation, Delphine couldn’t help but give a little snort. “And I suppose that doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that that service is more expensive than intercourse?”

This time, there was no mistaking the slight twitch of Cosima’s lips. Her eyes glinted briefly with amusement. “Just a suggestion.”

“Why is it more expensive?” she blurted out, her curiosity once more taking over.

“It’s more intimate,” she murmured, for the first time glancing away. “On my part.”

Delphine wrinkled her brow as she mulled that one over. When she realized Cosima was waiting for a response to their previous discussion, she pulled herself back to the topic at hand. “Well, you’re probably right about starting with oral.” She added glumly, “I would like to have a good orgasm at least once in my life.” Money wasn’t an issue for her. After four bestselling novels in three years, she had more than enough of that.

“We’ll do the best we can,” Cosima said matter-of-factly. “Friday still works for you?”

“Yeah.”

“The evening starts at seven o’clock and goes until midnight—unless other arrangements have been made in advance. Did you want to do anything beforehand? Dinner perhaps?”

To Delphine, that sounded absurd. She wasn’t trying to trick herself into believing this was a real date. She had no delusions about what she was about to do, and trying to romanticize it would only make things more confusing. But because she was starting to feel really nervous again, she quipped to break the tension, “I suppose I’d have to pay for dinner too.”

Cosima arched an eyebrow.

She snickered. “Right. I know. Sorry. That was on your handy list of prices and terms. I don’t want to waste time doing anything beforehand anyway.”

“We can meet at your place or at a hotel.”

“A hotel. I can email you the details tomorrow after I’ve made a reservation.”

“Excellent.” Cosima stood up and smiled down on her—once more that urbane, sensual smile she’d mastered perfectly. “If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to email or call me about them.”

Delphine stood up too. She had to look up in order to meet her eyes. “Yes. Good.”

Cosima extended a hand and she reached to shake it. Once again, her hand was startlingly warm. “I will see you on Friday at seven.”

“Right. Good. I’m looking forward to it.” As she started to walk away, she watched her lean, straight back and tight butt in her well-tailored trousers. 

She gulped. “I think.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big ass chapter. Thank you for the feedback :) I appreciate the kudos and comments a lot.

Delphine checked into her room in an upscale Toronto hotel at about six o’clock on Friday evening. She wanted to get there early enough to relax and prepare before Cosima arrived.

She’d started to change her mind about this encounter about twenty times over the last three days. But she’d never done things the conventional way, and she was determined to go through with this. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t the traditional way—or even a likely way—for a woman to lose her virginity.

It made sense to her, given her situation. She was going to do it this way.

After putting the appropriately counted wad of cash in an envelope on the table, she took a half-hour bath in the jetted tub, making sure to shave carefully and ensure she was presentable for sex. While she had no need to impress Cosima or try to attract her, she didn’t want to embarrass herself with excess hair. The bath helped to relax her, as did the second glass of white wine she poured from the bottle she ordered from room service. She’d turned off her cell phone when she’d arrived, knowing that pestering calls from Celine would only make her more nervous at this point in the process.

She wasn’t sure what she should wear. She’d feel stupid in sexy lingerie. But her street clothes hardly seemed appropriate. So she’d brought her favorite pajama set with her—camisole and flowing pants in soft lavender cashmere. They were comfortable and flattering, and it was the best she could come up with.

For the moment, she covered them with a long, belted sweater so she wouldn’t feel so silly when Cosima arrived.

She put on some melon-scented lotion. Combed out her hair. Brushed her teeth. Decided to go without makeup.

Then she took her half-drunk glass of wine and sat stiffly on a chair by the window. Recounted the cash.

Hoped she wasn’t going to be sick.

Before she could work up any truly debilitating nerves, there was a knock on the door. Cosima. Five minutes early.

“Good evening,” she said with that same urbane, sensual smile she’d showed her before. She wore red and black again—this evening a thin charcoal black sweater with a sleek red jacket over it.

“Hi. Good evening. Thanks for coming. Come in.” She cringed at how stupid she’d sounded, but made herself push through her discomfort. She was paying a lot for this evening. It was a business transaction. She had no reason to worry about whether she sounded stupid or whether Cosima knew how nervous she was. This was her deal, and she was in control of it.

All the same, she hurried back to her glass of wine.

Cosima glanced around the room as she walked in, apparently making note of the king-sized bed with white duvet, the clean lines of the sofa, and the large entertainment center against the wall. When she turned back to Delphine and saw her taking a long sip, she asked, “How much of that have you had?”

It was an unexpected way for her to begin this encounter, but it actually made Delphine more comfortable. She smiled dryly. “This is just my second glass. I didn’t want to be schnockered, but I thought a very mild buzz might help.”

Cosima nodded with another smile, this one a little less practiced.

“Do you want a glass?” she asked, sitting down on the edge of one of the chairs beside the small round table.

“Thank you.” Cosima sat down in the other chair and put the black leather case she carried on the floor at her feet.

Delphine peered at it curiously as she handed Cosima a glass of wine.

Noticing her look, she opened the case and pulled out a couple of DVDs. “Since you weren’t interested in any particular fantasy or role play,” she explained, “I thought it might be helpful to bring these.” She slid them over on the table so Delphine could see the covers. “They’re female-oriented erotic films. I don’t think you’ll find them tacky or vulgar. And the more aroused you are, the better this evening will go. Does this sort of thing work for you?”

“I don’t know. All I’ve ever seen is porn with big bouncing boobs. I hope that’s not what this is like.”

The corner of Cosima’s mouth did that appealing little twitch. “No big bouncing boobs. Why don’t we try one of them, if you don’t have other ideas?”

Delphine nodded, ridiculously relieved that she wouldn’t immediately have to get naked and spread her legs. She took her wine and went over to sit on the sofa while Cosima walked over to the DVD player.

“Do you prefer business-types or manual laborers?” Cosima asked, looking at her with cool courtesy over her shoulder.

“Business-types.” She curled up her legs to get herself comfortable and idly started to imagine how she would describe this to Celine tomorrow morning. It was certainly better than pretending to be out on a romantic date with Cosima before having sex. But still...watching porn with a female escort was definitely an atypical experience.

Cosima slid the appropriate DVD into the player. “The film is just under two hours, so we can watch the whole thing and still have plenty of time to move on from there. But let me know if it’s not working. And if you decide you want to move on before the film is over, just tell me that too.”

Delphine nodded, swallowing an overly large sip of wine. She couldn’t imagine herself so overwhelmed with desire that she’d want to jump up and hit the bed in the middle of an erotic film. While her body reacted the way it was supposed to when exposed to sexual stimuli—particularly the smutty parts of well-written romance novels—she’d never felt particularly urgent about physical arousal.

She’d read thousands of love scenes in books. Some hot and some laughable. After reading one of the purple-prose variety in college, she’d vowed she could write a better one, even without any real-life experience. So for fun she’d written a sex scene. Then she’d written a novel to go with it. Not a very good novel. She’d tried and failed to get it published. But it was a start. She wrote two more unpublished novels in college. But it wasn’t until the year after she graduated, working as a copyeditor at a local paper, that she actually made progress toward publication. She’d met a literary agent who’d asked to look at the fourth, and best, novel Delphine had written. That novel ended up, by one of the unpredictable flukes of the publishing industry, becoming a romance bestseller. As did the three that followed.

Sometimes, when Delphine wrote her own love scenes, she became aroused. She was emotionally invested in her characters, and she responded physically to the pleasure she gave them.

One more irony of her inexplicable life.

As the movie started to run, Delphine looked over at Cosima, who’d taken off her jacket and then taken her seat again next to the table. “Are you all right over there?” she asked. “Did you need anything? You can sit on the sofa—it’s got to be more comfortable than that chair.”

Cosima said she didn’t need anything, but she did move to sit on the other side of the sofa, slouching down a little and stretching out her legs.

“How many times have you seen this movie?” Delphine asked, giving her a sidelong glance.

“Don’t ask.”

She chuckled, feeling more relaxed than she’d expected. She stiffened a little when the film jumped right into a love scene, complete with naked, panting people. But it was unlike any piece of porn she’d ever seen before. An actual storyline soon developed, and the actors and director were good.

And the sex...the sex was very sexy.

Less than a half-hour into the movie, Delphine was aroused. But by that time she was actually kind of into the movie, and she figured the more aroused she was the better. At one point, Cosima looked over at her and asked if she was enjoying the movie or whether they should try something else. She told her the movie was good—although she was tempted to shush her for interrupting a particularly good scene.

Otherwise, they watched in silence. Delphine was mostly absorbed in the storyline, and pleased and relieved by her body’s responses to the erotic activities on screen. But occasionally she thought she sensed Cosima’s gaze on her—like she was watching her. Every time she turned to check, however, her eyes were focused on the television.

Eventually, she told herself she was imagining things out of nervousness and self-consciousness. So she put it out of her mind.

When the movie ended, she was extremely turned on. Her body felt restless and squirmy and she was wet and hot between her legs.

“How do you feel?” Cosima asked, narrowing her eyes to scan her face after she switched off the DVD.

“Fine,” she said, her voice a little hoarse. “I think we can go ahead and, uh, get going.”

“You’re aroused?”

Her cheeks warmed. “Yes,” she admitted.

She leaned over and picked up her case. After replacing the DVDs, she pulled out a packet Delphine didn’t recognize. She stood up and took off her sweater. Then she walked over to peer at what she had.

Cosima looked over, her eyes automatically scanning her body in her cashmere tank and pajama pants. But her gaze didn’t linger. She handed Delphine an unopened packet.

“Dental dams,” she explained. “For oral sex. I don’t have unprotected sex of any kind.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t be using your services otherwise.” She’d never seen a dental dam before so she studied the packet with interest, glad for any sort of distraction from what would be coming next.

“These are the best quality I’ve been able to find. Very thin and the texture is good. It will still be very enjoyable for you.”

She swallowed hard. “Pretty smug about your skills, aren’t you?”

Cosima made a brief choked sound, as if she’d smothered a surprised laugh. Pulling out a tube of lubricant, she carried it with two dam packets and a couple of condoms to the nightstand. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether I’m smug or simply realistic.”

Her dry response made Delphine giggle a little, and she walked over to join her next to the bed. When she looked from her slick, sexy good-looks to the large bed draped with a fluffy down comforter, her giggle changed to a nervous gurgle.

“You’re in control of this,” Cosima said, holding her gaze with a cool expression. “We do whatever you want to do. I can act however you want me to act. Just tell me.”

“I don’t want you to pretend to be romantic or hot for me or anything. I want it to be...be real. I mean, don’t pretend we’re doing anything other than we are.”

“Understood. I can do that. Would you prefer me to stay in my clothes or take them off?” Cosima replied smoothly, not appearing to notice her anxiety.

She thought for just a moment but knew the sight of her undoubtedly fine, naked body would be the end of her nerve. “Keep them on.”

“And you?”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, suddenly conscious of the way her breasts were outlined in the clinging tank she wore and that her nipples were visibly tight from her arousal. “I’ll keep them on for now,” she said, “Until ...”

She nodded. “Lights?”

“Off.”  
“Is there anything else you’d like? Questions or requests?”

“Um.”

Cosima waited patiently, watching her with an oddly quiet look of scrutiny. When she couldn’t manage to get anything said, she asked softly, “What can I do to make you less nervous?”

Despite the practical purpose of the question, it made her feel a little better. Like Cosima was human and not just some suave sex machine. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she managed to say. “Obviously. And obviously you do. But one of the things that has gotten in the way when I’ve tried to get farther than kissing with a girl is the thought of not knowing what to do. I mean, I know the logistics and the way it’s supposed to go, but it’s always felt a lot different than the over-blown stuff in books. And I get hung up on how clueless I feel, and then I can’t get into it at all.”

Cosima nodded, as if she understood what she was saying, despite her somewhat silly babbles.

“It would help,” she added, “If you can kind of give me some directions.”

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“Not boss me around or be some sort of dominant asshole. Just kind of guide me through it a little.” Her cheeks were blazing red and she peeked at Cosima through her eyelashes. There were no signs on her face that she thought she was a freak or an idiot. “If that wouldn’t make you uncomfortable.”

COsima blinked. Although she didn’t know what would have surprised her in her last comment. “Of course,” she said, after just a moment. “That makes sense. I’ll do what I can. Why don’t you get in bed?”

While Delphine pulled the sheet and comforter down, Cosima turned off the overhead lights and took off her shoes and socks. Then she stretched out, breathing deeply and forcing herself to relax.

She smiled over at Cosima as she sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and reached over to turn off the bedside light. She smiled back, and that was the last clear image she had of her face.

In the dark room, Delphine felt less exposed and self-conscious. She was starting to think that this wouldn’t be too bad—that she’d worked herself up over nothing—when Cosima’s form suddenly loomed over hers, the dark silhouette of her head directly above hers.

She jerked violently, having expected her to be a lot lower. “What are you doing?” she gasped.

Cosima grew very still. “I was going to start with some foreplay if that’s all right. It will make things go more smoothly.”

“Oh. Okay. Sounds good.” She took a slightly ragged breath and lay beneath her, telling herself she was an intelligent, mature grown-up who was in control of this encounter. She had nothing to be nervous about.

When Cosima’s face lowered toward hers, though, she put a hand up to stop her. “Are you going to kiss me?”

“I was,” she said, bracing herself above her on her forearms. Like her hand, her whole body felt warm, far too warm for her sleek, cool persona. “My clients usually like to be kissed.”

“Oh. Well, I’m not sure I want to. It just seems too...I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right. Like I’m taking advantage of you or something.”

There was a noticeable pause before she said, “Delphine, you’re paying me for this.”

“I know.” She squirmed a little. “But it just feels weird. I’d rather not.”

“Of course. You mean on your mouth, I assume. I can kiss you elsewhere, as part of foreplay?”

“Yes. Elsewhere is fine.”

She really wished she were less nervous so she could enjoy the bizarre nature of this conversation.

Cosima started by mouthing her throat lightly. She tilted her head to give her better access and was surprised by how nice the light touch felt. Then, before she knew it, Cosima was stroking her body over the cashmere, her palm brushing over her hips, belly, and breasts.

She’d been very aroused a few minutes ago and had only been briefly distracted. So her body responded to her caresses. It was a relief. She still was breathing in uneven little pants, but she started to loosen her tense muscles.

“Take a few deep breaths,” Cosima murmured, her mouth lowering to trail along her collarbone.

Delphine was about to be annoyed with her bossiness when she remembered she was just doing as she’d requested. So she followed her instructions, took a long, unhurried breath and let it out. After a few more of those, her breathing had slowed and evened out.

“May I push up your top?” Cosima asked, her fingers on the edge of her little tank.

“Yeah.”

She eased up her top to expose her breasts, although it was too dark in the room to see them clearly. Then she lowered her mouth to latch onto one nipple.

She gave a little whimper as she suckled it skillfully, and she felt the corresponding tugs between her legs. She shifted beneath her.

“Let me know what you like,” she said, raising her mouth from her breast briefly. “I can’t please you otherwise.”

“Oh. I like what you’re doing. What should I do with my arms?” It felt like her arms were in the way and she couldn’t figure out where to put them.

“Grabbing the headboard is an old favorite,” she said, the wry note in her voice comforting and familiar. “Or you’re welcome to touch me if you want. Just please don’t pull on my hair too strong.”

She tried the headboard and kind of liked the way the position lifted her breasts so they didn’t fall so weirdly to the sides. So she clung to the wood as Cosima suckled at her nipple and then adjusted to fondle both breasts with her hands.

Delphine arched up involuntarily as pleasure tingled from her touch and coalesced at her growing arousal. Realizing she was panting again, she tried to take a few more slow breaths.

“Is this working for you, Delphine?”

“Yeah,” she admitted hoarsely, arching up again as she twirled both of her nipples between her fingers and thumbs. “It feels really good.”

Cosima continued her caresses, kissing and stroking her breasts, and sometimes shifting up to her throat or down to her stomach.

She was cupping her breasts with both hands and had her mouth on her belly when Delphine’s hands flew down of their own accord to settle on her head. Making sure not to use too much strenght, she pulled Cosima’s braided gray hair and was amazed by the feeling. The smooth sensations on her fingertips intensified the other growing sensations in her body.

When she unconsciously started pushing Cosima’s head lower, instinctively wanting her farther down, she lifted up. “Ready?” she asked, reaching over to the nightstand to pick up a packet and the lubricant.

“Yeah.” Her nervousness was lessened by physical desire, and she started to push her pajama pants down over her hips.

Cosima helped her slide them off her legs with her panties and then she settled herself between her thighs. Her arousal was hot, wet, and aching—and it made her want to wriggle her hips. But the logistics had given her time to get nervous again and she tensed up.

She felt one of Cosima’s hands on her belly, stroking her gently. “Can you loosen up here?”

She tried to do as she said and relax her stomach muscles but she couldn’t seem to manage.

She kept stroking her. “Try to breathe again.”

She took four deep breaths before she managed to relax her clenched belly.

Cosima’s hands stroked down to her thighs. “Now here.” They did the same thing—Cosima massaged her tight muscles as she breathed until she was able to soften the tension. As she loosened up, she parted her legs farther.

She heard her rip the packet open and then squirt out some lubricant. “I’ll rub the lubricant on the back of the dam. It will make it more pleasurable for you,” she explained. “But I think I’ll use my hand first, if that’s all right with you.”

“Yeah.”

She kept concentrating on breathing until she felt her fingers parting her intimate folds and then stroking slowly along the flesh. The touch was warm and slick—so warm she gasped.

“The lubricant warms,” she said, apparently noticing her reaction and reading it correctly. “It will make it better.”

“Okay.”

She reached up to grab the headboard again, needing something to do with her hands, when Cosima smoothly slipped a finger, and then two, inside her. She clung—her hands to the board above her and her inner muscles to Cosima’s fingers.

“Is it too tight?”

“Um. I think it’s all right.” It didn’t hurt and wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, as she gently massaged her inner walls, the warming sensation and the skillful stimulation caused ripples of pleasure to spiral out from the touch.

“I’m going to use my mouth now,” Cosima explained, her voice so calm and confident in the dark room it was absurdly reassuring. She could see no more of her than a dark silhouette and a faint gleam of her skin from the blue glow of the digital clock next to the bed. “If I do anything you don’t like or that makes you uncomfortable, tell me right away. I’m going to assume you want to do what we’re doing until you tell me differently.” She slid his fingers out of her channel. “To begin with, I’m going to test around to see what you like, so if something feels particularly good, it would help if you tell me.”

“All right.”

She felt her making adjustments farther down the mattress and heard rustling of what must be the dam. Then she gasped loudly when she felt something soft and slick touch her intimately.

“May I start?” Her voice came from between her legs.

“Yes.” She clenched her fingers around the edge of the headboard so tightly her knuckles must have whitened. But she managed not to clench up the muscles of her pelvic area.

As soon as she began, Delphine relaxed a little. It was weird but it wasn’t uncomfortable or horribly embarrassing. She must have been using her tongue, because she felt a light stroke rub up the range of her flesh and then flutter briefly at her clit.

“That’s good,” she choked out, as she felt the quick jolt of pleasure.

Cosima played with her clit for a few moments, until it felt so good her muscles started to tighten involuntarily. Then she licked down to her entrance and probed and lapped. For several minutes, she tried out various techniques and the overall effect was quite good. Delphine had been quite aroused to begin with, and soon her arousal had taken on an urgency she’d never experienced before.

She pointed out each move she particularly liked—the curl of her tongue inside her, the circular flutter just at her entrance, the sudden pressure of his lips on one of her folds, and flickering or suction on her clit. As she progressed, she dropped the techniques she didn’t like as much and focused on the ones she did.

As the physical pleasure intensified, she bent up her legs involuntarily so she could press her feet down into the mattress, and she clutched the headboard so desperately her fingers were sore. Cosima was spending more and more time at her clit. And, as she gave it a series of hard sucks, Delphine’s spine arched up off the mattress.

She panted desperately, her unsteady inhalations loud and fast in the otherwise quiet room. She knew something was about to happen. The coiled tension below her belly couldn’t tighten much more without breaking.

Then Cosima moved her mouth away, causing her to make a disappointed mew.

“I’m sorry,” she said, clearing his throat when her voice came out a little hoarse. “May I make a suggestion?”

“Of course. I told you earlier I wanted some directions. I thought I was about to come.”

“I think you were. But you’re clenched so tight that some of the pleasure is going to get swallowed by the tension. It will be better for you if you can relax a little more.”

She groaned and rubbed at her face with one hand. “How am I supposed to relax when everything starts feeling so good and you just know that something ...?” She trailed off lamely, not quite sure how to describe it. In one of her books, she’d used the phrase “hot, breathless expectation” but even that didn’t quite capture it.

“Your instinct will always be to tense up. But if you fight the instinct, you can enjoy the climax more. I’m going to use my fingers again, and then I’ll use my mouth at the same time. Why don’t you try the breathing again?”

Delphine reached up to grab the headboard once more. But bone-deep irony prompted her to grumble, “You’re big on that damned breathing, aren’t you?”

She heard a brief, choked sound but she couldn’t see her face in order to interpret it. And when she felt her fingers, slick with lubricant and her own fluids, penetrate her again, she forgot to wonder about the sound.

Despite her words, she did as Cosima suggested and started taking slow, deep breaths. The erotic pressure built back up with startling speed as she massaged her, and then she lowered her mouth once more to suckle at her clit through the dam. “Keep breathing,” she murmured from over her flesh.

As soon as the sensations had swelled up, she’d started her frantic panting again. But now she made herself inhale as slowly as she could, pushing down against the mattress with her feet. Then she exhaled, feeling a sudden, intense surge of pleasure as some of her muscles relaxed.

Suddenly understanding the purpose of the breathing, she focused on it even more, allowing the growing sensations from Cosima’s ministrations to take care of themselves. She breathed deeply several more times, and on each exhale the pleasure leapt forward.

“Good,” Cosima murmured, rubbing at her clit with something other than her lips. Her fingers sustained a steady, stroking rhythm in her wet passage. “That’s perfect. Breathe one more time.”

Delphine breathed in and felt all the carnal tension at its breaking point.

She breathed out and the tension finally broke.

It wasn’t a screaming, earth-shattering orgasm from a romance novel. She didn’t cry out in ecstasy or experience wave after wave of endless bliss. Her eyes blurred over and her back arched up. And she made no noise except a few thick, ragged gasps.

But it felt really good—much better than any orgasm she’d had before—pleasure pulsing out at the sudden release of pressure. Cosima kept thrusting her fingers against the contractions, and she vaguely heard her murmuring, “Good. Ride it out. Just like that. That’s good.”

When she collapsed back onto the mattress, letting her arms drop down to her sides, she was astonished by how immediately relaxed she felt. She also felt a little embarrassed. And overly warm.

“Do you want a few minutes before we move on to intercourse?” Cosima asked, straightening up. Her voice sounded a little different—thicker or something—but she couldn’t connect a mood with the slight alteration.

“Yes,” she said, still breathless from her orgasm and feeling a jolt of raw fear at the idea of having intercourse right away. “Thank you.”

“I can hold you if you want,” Cosima offered. When she just stared blankly at the dark outline of her face, she added, “A lot of my clients like that afterwards.”

“Oh.” As she processed her feelings, she realized it would be nice to be held. But by someone who actually cared about her. “No. That’s all right. Thanks. I don’t want to pretend anything. I’m not trying to fool myself.”

“Understood.” She stood up off the bed. “I’m going to throw this away and clean up a bit then, if that’s all right.”

“Yes. Good.”

Cosima turned the light on in the bathroom when she entered. She heard the water running in the sink. Realizing she was lying on the sheet half naked, Delphine fumbled around until she found her panties and pajama pants and pulled them back on.

Cosima left the light on as she returned, illuminating the room enough for her to see her more clearly as she returned to stand next to the bed. At her questioning look, Delphine admitted, “I don’t think I’m ready for the rest of it yet.”

“Would you like another glass of wine?” Cosima asked, smiling her urbane, sensual smile.

Jumping at this suggestion, since it might provide her a way to get past her strangely embarrassed afterglow, she said, “Yes, please.” She reached over to turn on the light beside the bed so Cosima could see more clearly to pour the drink. “You have another one too,” she added. “If you want.”

She noticed she walked a little stiffly as she came back over to hand her the wine. “You’re really good at that,” she said, smiling at Cosima with real appreciation. Despite her emotional discomfort at the moment, she was deeply relieved to know she was capable of having an orgasm like that. And Cosima’s professionalism really had made the whole process as easy as possible and quite pleasurable. “The oral sex, I mean, not the wine. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said mildly. There was a slight sheen of perspiration on her face, and she wondered how much effort it had taken to get her off. The whole process must have taken almost forty-five minutes, since it was now nearing ten o’clock.

As Cosima walked over the few steps to pour herself some wine, she studied her carefully. Her clothes were barely even wrinkled, the expensive fabrics and tailoring standing up well to even this sort of activity. But she definitely was missing the cool grace that had always possessed her before. Her shoulders looked a little tense.

As she faced away from her, standing in profile against the expanse of windows, Delphine suddenly realized what it was. The sleek, urban cut of her trousers left little to the imagination, and she could see the bulge at the front of them quite clearly.

She was aroused.

Delphine blinked and looked away quickly, her cheeks burning at the realization. It made sense, she supposed. She’d been engaged in an intimate activity. And maybe she had some sort of mental thing she did to get himself ready for intercourse. It wasn’t like with most cis women—who could take it whether they were aroused or not. She had to be erect in order to do this part of her job.

It probably had nothing to do with her.

But still...the knowledge that pleasuring her had left her physically aroused made her feel kind of strange.

For once, she was able to hold back her wayward tongue. She didn’t mention it, not even to make the snarky joke that came to mind.

Cosima seated herself on one of the chairs next to the table and they drank their wine in silence for a few minutes.

“That was a good orgasm,” Delphine said at last, wanting to speak and shaping the first words that came into her head.

Lifting his eyebrows slightly, Cosima said, “Good.”

“I mean, I had my expectations pretty low. I knew it wasn’t going to be like a hot love scene in a book. But still it was really good. I liked it.”

“I’m glad.” To her surprise, she saw the little twitch at the corner of her mouth. For some ridiculous reason, the unexpected sight of it was like greeting an old friend.

“You don’t think I’m weird or unnatural, do you?” she asked, “For having gone so long without having a decent orgasm before?”

Cosima shook her head and answered with cool sobriety, “Not at all. It’s more common than you’d think. Some women are too self-conscious to let themselves climax. And others only have experiences with people who don’t know how to please them. With all the erotica in popular culture now, many women have unrealistic expectations about what sex should be like. So when their actual experiences don’t match with the fictional fantasies, they think something’s wrong with them. But the reality is it doesn’t happen magically, and a lot of people don’t know how to please a woman’s body—even if they genuinely want to. You might be surprised by how many women come to me for that very reason.”

Delphine thought about that and decided it was very comforting knowledge. Not that so many women were unsatisfied but that she wasn’t the only woman who’d somehow missed out on the orgasm-train. “You should give lessons,” she said at last, glancing back over at her and catching her studying her closely. “Teach people – specially men - how to do a better job.”

For the first time, she heard her laugh. It was just a low chuckle, brief and a little bit bitter. “I’ll consider it.”

“Maybe a seminar or workshop,” she added, kind of pleased that she’d managed to amuse such an unflappable woman. “Or better yet a webinar. Stream it internationally.”

This earned her an even longer chuckle.

Her laugh faded as he finished off her wine and glanced at her watch. “If you want to move on to intercourse, perhaps we should get started. We’ll want to leave time to try different things, if necessary.”

Delphine swallowed and stared at the clock next to the bed. She’d just been feeling relaxed and kind of pleased with herself for the evening’s accomplishments. And the thought of having sex now made her stomach clench sickeningly.

And she realized that she’d done everything she was emotionally ready for at the moment. She knew herself well enough to know that if she tried to have intercourse now—having lost her resolve and erotic momentum—she’d be too scared and uncomfortable to have anything close to a good time.

As if she read her mind, Cosima said mildly, “If you don’t think you’re up to it tonight, we can schedule another engagement and focus on intercourse then.”

Delphine exhaled with intense relief. That was exactly what she wanted to do. And the relief mingled with her sense of irony to push her into spontaneous speech. “Ha! What a sneaky way to sell a second evening. You should have been a businessman.”

When Cosima arched her eyebrows at her, she bit her lip. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I know you are a businessman. I just meant at some big multinational corporation. But I didn’t mean...Sorry.”

Cosima shook his head. “Delphine, you don’t have to apologize.”

Despite her bland reassurance, she felt like an ass. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like you weren’t a professional. And I do think a second evening would be the best idea.”

“We’ll arrange it then.” Cosima stood up. “Did you want to do anything else this evening? We still have an hour and a half.”

Since sex was off the table, she wasn’t sure what she’d do with her for that long. Some women hired escorts simply for companionship, but that felt too weird and unnatural for Delphine. She had friends. All she needed was sex.

She shook her head. Then she remembered her physical condition. “Oh,” she began, stiffening on the bed, “But you were...I mean, did you need to ...” She waved her hand toward her crotch and reddened deeply again as she remembered she wasn’t supposed to know she was aroused.

Cosima met her eyes evenly. “I’m fine, Delphine. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Oh.” She hated the thought of sending her on her way when she was still erect. “You can, uh, take a shower or something if you want.”

“Thank you. I might do that.” She hesitated, as if she weren’t sure whether she wanted her to take the shower now or not.

“You can go ahead. I’m not going to be up for anything else this evening.”

She stretched out more comfortably when Cosima shut the bathroom door. She heard the shower running and she figured she’d take care of her erection under the spray. Then she remembered the pile of cash in the envelope on the table. She got up to recount it, pulling out the amount she’d included for intercourse and putting that back in her purse.  
She was in bed again when Cosima reemerged, looking composed, relaxed, and suavely dressed once more. To her surprise, she didn’t grab the cash and run. Instead, she sat down and leaned forward a little, clasping her hands. “Did you have any other questions I can help you with? Other concerns?”

She thought for a moment, taking the offer seriously. How often would she have the benefit of such an expert? “Do you have any suggestions for getting myself off more effectively?”

Cosima frowned, but she could tell it was because she was reflecting on the question. “What have you tried?”

“Just my hand. Rubbing, mostly. I can get there, but it’s never all that good. I figured I was just doing it wrong.”

She gave her a few, detailed suggestions about techniques for manual self-stimulation. Then she added, “You should get a vibrator.” At her expression, she gave a half-smile. “They’re not nearly as tacky or embarrassing as you’d think. I can bring you a good one next time if you want.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling in surprise at the offer. She’d considered buying one herself—she’d even found discreet websites through which she could buy one—but she’d been worried she’d be too self-conscious to actually use it. “How far in advance are you booked up?”

“Usually at least three weeks. Beyond that, it depends on the day.”

“Three weeks?” She’d been hoping to meet up with her again a lot sooner than that.

Obviously catching the disappointment in her voice, Cosima tilted up one corner of her mouth. “I occasionally have cancellations. I can let you know. Otherwise, I think my first available evening is two weeks from next Wednesday.”

Delphine thought quickly and couldn’t think of anything she had scheduled for that evening. And she figured she better snatch the day while she could, since obviously Cosima’s time was a hot commodity. “I think that would work. Let’s schedule it then.” Feeling a prickle of curiosity, she asked, “Do you work every evening?”

She shook her head. “I keep certain days to myself.”

She made herself get out of the bed and walk over to the table. She slid the money over toward her without meeting her eyes. “It should be the right amount for tonight.”  
She didn’t count it. Just slipped it into her pocket and picked up her case.

“Thank you for tonight,” she said.

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you on the twenty-eighth.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said as she watched her walk to the door—lean, upright, and infinitely cosmopolitan. Cool and competent. A quintessential businessman with a very particular business. She wondered why she already had gray hair. And wondered how she’d gotten into this line of work to begin with. Wondered what was up with her and her father.

She hadn’t done everything she’d intended to do tonight. She hadn’t had intercourse. But she’d had a good orgasm, and that was excellent progress. She was fairly satisfied with herself.

As Cosima closed the door behind him, she realized maybe she actually was looking forward to their next engagement.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work break :) Enjoy.
> 
> (!) Any mistakes, let me know.

By the time two weeks from Wednesday rolled around, Delphine had worked up a fair amount of excitement.

After her weird awkwardness immediately following her first session with Cosima, Delphine concluded that the encounter had been a real success. She wasn’t looking for a fantasy. She was just looking for a way to rid herself of her virginity, a way that was easy and hassle-free. Cosima was talented, accommodating, thoughtful, and very attractive. And her professionalism made the first engagement exactly what she’d been looking for.

She couldn’t imagine the second engagement would be a problem. It would likely go the same way, only with intercourse rather than oral sex. Because she had such a good impression of her first session with Cosima, she began to anticipate the second one.

She was still nervous. But, as the days progressed, her excitement became stronger than her fear.

So Delphine arrived at the hotel at six o’clock on the scheduled Wednesday. She followed the same routine as before: took a bath, shaved, applied lotion, counted cash, drank wine, and sat in a chair waiting for Cosima. Her belly was fluttery with nerves.

But she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be sick.

She’d been a virgin for twenty-six years. And she’d spent many of those years looking forward to not being one.

And now it was finally going to happen.

When Cosima tapped on the door, she walked over to let her in without even the slightest impulse to hide in the bathroom.

Tonight, she wore all black—black trousers, black dress shirt, and very expensive black leather shoes. She smiled at her, exactly as she’d expected her to. Urbane, sensual. Infinitely practiced.

“Hi there,” she said cheerfully, leading her back into the room. “You look all cool and stealthy tonight.”

Cosima blinked and looked down at herself. “Stealthy?”

She raised her eyebrows—in an expression that mirrored her own—and handed Cosima a glass of wine. “All black. Do you do a lot of lurking in the shadows?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Her dry tone combined with that appealing twitch of her mouth caused Delphine to snort. When she set her leather case in the chair, Delphine moved to stand beside her. “What goodies have you brought today?”

The first thing she pulled out of her case was a slim, pink vibrator still in its original packaging. Cosima offered it to her. “As promised.”

Her lips parting, she accepted the vibrator and stared down at it. “Thank you. It was nice of you to get it for me.”

“We can use it some this evening, if you want.” Her eyes rested on her face, as if she were checking her expression. “It might help in foreplay, and I can show you some ways to use it.” When Delphine just stared at her, she added, “But only if it won’t make you uncomfortable.”

Getting vibrator lessons from a escort might make her a little uncomfortable, but it did sound like a practical idea. “No. That would be fine. A little weird, but fine.”

“Why is it weird?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Have you taught other women how to use vibrators?”

“Of course.”

“Oh.” A little taken aback by this matter-of-fact answer, she concluded, “I guess it’s not that weird after all.”

Cosima smiled and reached into her case, pulling out a DVD. “This was the best I could find, if we want to start with erotica again this evening. Well-made, female-oriented erotic movies are few and far between. This is a series of short films, so each is just a half-hour. That would leave us more time, which might be smart if we want to practice with the vibrator before we move on to intercourse.”’

Nodding absently, Delphine studied the DVD cover. “Is this as good as the one last week?”

“Not quite. It’s good—made for women and not tacky. But the stories are not as well-written. It’s the best I could find with business-type leads. Manual laborers tend to be more popular—painters, carpenters, pool girls, you know.”

Delphine sneered faintly at that inexplicable fact. Then she thought about the implications of what she said. “Did you look for this one particularly for me?”

“Yes. I thought it would be best to have a shorter film for this evening, but I didn’t have anything in my collection that would work.”

Staring up at Cosima’s smooth, polished expression, Delphine tried to imagine her escort rooting through shelves or online catalogs to find erotic DVDs. “That was awfully nice of you. Thank you.”

Cosima gave a half-shrug. “It’s no problem. I can always use it again later.”

“Just exactly how big is your collection of erotic films?” Delphine’s mouth wobbled with amusement as she imagined a secret room chock-full of sexy paraphernalia and DVDs in Cosima’s doubtlessly slick, cool-toned apartment.

She chuckled briefly—with that same faint note of bitterness Delphine had heard in her laugh last time. “Big enough to do my job.”

She moved over to put the DVD in the player and asked over her shoulder, “Do you want to go about things tonight the same way we did last time?”

Delphine lowered her eyebrows as she took her seat on the sofa. “I want to have sex this time. Intercourse.”

A tiny lip twitch. “Yes. I meant in terms of my behavior. Did you want to continue the same attitude or perhaps play out a fantasy tonight?”

“Oh. I get it.” Delphine chuckled as she thought about how she’d misinterpreted her. It was very nice of her not to laugh out loud. “No, I like how we did it last time. Don’t pretend anything.”

“Understood.” She hit play on the DVD player and went to sit beside her on the sofa.

Cosima was right about the movie. It wasn’t as good as the one last time. But it was basically well-made and still quite sexy. But the time it had run its course, Delphine was plenty aroused.

“We can watch another one if you need to,” Cosima offered.

“Nope. I’m good.”

Cosima got up, turned the film off, and went over to the table. She pulled some batteries out of her case and then removed the vibrator from the package. As Delphine watched her slide the batteries into the little tube, she couldn’t help but admire her legs and firm, well-contoured ass. She wondered how often she had to work out a week to sculpt her great body.

Then she wondered what she looked like without clothes.

When Cosima went over to the bathroom to rinse off the vibrator, Delphine moved to the bed. She turned down the comforter and sheets and then sat down on the edge of the mattress. She took off the belted sweater she wore—the same one she’d worn last time. Under it, however, she was wearing a chemise in the same soft cashmere as her favorite pajama set. She thought it might be smart to wear something that could just be pushed up to have sex. And the graceful lines and little tie just under her breasts made her feel kind of sexy.

It wasn’t any sort of racy lingerie. Pretty tame in the scheme of things. It was sexy for her, though, and tonight she could use all the sexy she could get.

Before Cosima came over to join her, she turned off the overhead lights. “Is it all right if we leave the light on in the bathroom? It will still be quite dark, but it might help to have a little more light to work with the vibrator.”

“Sure.” She’d kind of liked the deep darkness of the room last time, but she wasn’t about to argue with what was obviously good sense.

Cosima picked up the tube of lubricant and a couple of condom packets from her case before she returned to the bed. “Did you want to lie down?” she asked, putting the vibrator and other stuff on the nightstand and turning off the bedside light.

With a long exhale, Delphine pulled up her legs and reclined back on the bed. She’d been doing so well—focusing on anticipation rather than anxiety—but now she was starting to get nervous. She was still aroused, but not so much she stopped thinking about what was about to happen.

“Do you want me to keep my clothes on this evening?” Cosima stood, dark and looming, beside the bed.

Since she felt braver today, she replied, “Oh. No. I guess not. You can take them off.”

Cosima started unbuttoning her shirt. Her motion was slow, almost mesmerizing, as she gradually revealed her bare breasts beneath. When she’d untucked the shirt, she let it slide with unhurried ease to the floor. The contour of her breasts revealed to her. She could see the clean contours of muscle development on her abdomen and shoulders, even in the dim light of the room.

She slid her belt out of the loops. She moved naturally, not ostentatiously, but Delphine suddenly realized she was giving her a little show.

It was effective. As she watched, her intimate muscles clenched in excitement and jitters rose up in her belly, but she also felt a gurgle of amusement. She had to press her lips together to stifle it.

Who would have thought that Delphine Cormier would be in the position to get such an elegant striptease from a gray headed woman?

She must not have hidden her reaction well because Cosima paused in the midst of unzipping. She arched her eyebrows. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no,” she said, keeping her eyes wide and trying not to stare down at what would be revealed when her pants came unzipped. “Everything’s fine. You’re doing an excellent job.”

Cosima narrowed her eyes, a little suspiciously, before she let her trousers fall to the floor, revealing black silk boxers and a pair of very fine legs.

“Boxers?” Delphine asked, working past the surge of visceral admiration at the sight of her near perfect body. “I was wondering what you wore.”

Cosima took off her watch as she replied, “I didn’t know what you’d prefer. Since you’re French, I thought boxers were a better bet.”

Delphine blinked up at her. “What do you mean?”

“European women tend to prefer boxers on men. If you were American, I’d have worn briefs. Obviously, once I know a woman’s preference, I accommodate it.”

“American women prefer briefs?”

“I have only my own informal assessment to go by, but, yes, I’d say three-fourths of them do. I try to pay attention.”

“Wow,” Delphine breathed. “That’s what I call attention to detail.”

Cosima gave her a half-smile. “It’s part of my job.” Her hands lingered on the waistband of her boxers. “Shall I?”

Delphine gulped, torn between nerves and carnal interest. The silk was thin and slippery, and she could see evidence through the fabric that Cosima was already half-erect. “Why don’t you wait on that?” she finally decided.

Cosima nodded and came over to sit on the edge of the bed. “Like last time? Some foreplay with no kissing?”

She scooted over toward the middle of the bed to make room for her. “Yes. Thank you.”

Cosima slanted her an odd look before she moved into bed beside her. Then she moved over her. Like last time, she started with some light kisses on the side of her neck, but then she moved up to brush her lips along the line of her jaw.

Delphine sucked in a breath. Then a sharper breath when she trailed her mouth down to the pulse in her throat. She felt her teeth on her skin, very gently.

Without any conscious thought, her hands settled on her head, irresistibly drawn to the smooth dreads.

It was silent in the room except the rustling of the bedding and Delphine’s accelerating breathing. Cosima was warm above her, generating heat she could feel even where she wasn’t touching her, and she slowly pushed up her chemise to bare her body to her.

Cosima took her time—stroking her body, fondling her breasts, teasing out spots that made her gasp or squirm that she’d never imagined before. This time, she was too distracted by the sensations to point out the things she liked best, but she found them anyway. Eventually, Delphine was flushed all over and writhing shamelessly from the need for friction.

Cosima’s mouth was on her side, on a sensitive spot just above her hip. She mouthed it hard and fluttered her tongue against her skin. At the same time, she was rubbing the back of her knee in a gentle massage and occasionally flicking at one of her erect nipples with her other hand.

“Cosima,” she finally rasped. When she raised her head, Delphine continued, “Can we...can we try the vibrator?”

Nodding wordlessly, she reached for it and the lube on the nightstand. She knelt between her splayed legs and squirted lube out onto her hand. She could see everything much more clearly tonight from the light from the bathroom. “I’ll use my hand first, like last time,” Cosima explained.

Delphine gave a nod and then stared at her, hypnotized by her physical desire and by the sight of the mostly naked woman reaching her hand down to her groin. Cosima stroked her open and wasted no time in sliding two fingers into her wet, pulsing channel. She arched her neck and parted her lips at the feel of the penetration.

Rhythmically, Cosima fucked her with her fingers for a few minutes, causing her to twist in pleasure and reach up to grab the headboard. She seemed to be stretching her, pushing against her inner walls. She avoided touching her clit, though, which is where she really wanted her.

Finally, she managed to choke out, “If you rub my clit, I think I can come.”

“I know,” Cosima said in a low voice. “But when you come, you’ll get tighter. That might make intercourse more difficult. I know everyone says that orgasms relax you beforehand, but you get a lot tighter after an orgasm. You’re tight already and you don’t need to get any tighter. I’d suggest we wait, but I can do whatever you’d prefer.”

It made sense. She certainly didn’t want to make intercourse any more uncomfortable than it had to be, but the logic didn’t help ease her urgent, wriggling body.

“The vibrator?” she prompted.

Cosima picked up the vibrator and slicked it up with lubricant. “You see how it’s curved?” She cleared her voice before she continued. “It’s made to easily reach your g-spot.”

She gently inserted the slim, pink device inside Delphine, and she felt pressure on her upper wall. She thrusted it slowly, and it moved easily with the lube and her own moisture.

“Do you feel your g-spot? There?”

She felt a tingling pressure from the press of the vibrator. “Yeah.” Despite her intense arousal, she felt curiosity prompt her. “I thought from the way it’s described in love scenes that hitting your g-spot would cause this huge jolt of pleasure.”

Cosima shook her head, still pumping the vibrator slowly inside her. “It can get that way, but it’s a cumulative effect. Most women need to be aroused before they can feel it at all. Then it takes some building up before you can get the best sensations.”

As she continued pumping, she started to feel the tingling pleasure intensify.

“Do you want to try it,” she asked, “To make sure you can find it yourself?”

Delphine reached down between her legs to take the vibrator and slide it in and out like Cosima had. It was a little embarrassing, but her lessons would do her no good if she couldn’t find it on her own. She angled it until she felt her g-spot again and parted her lips at the renewed stimulation.

“Good?” Cosima asked, her eyes moving from her face to the device that was penetrating her intimately, wet now and making a faint, embarrassing sucking sound as she moved it.

“Yeah.”

She let Cosima take over the vibrator again, and gasped as she turned it on. The sensations swelled up so intensely and so quickly that she arched and clawed at the sheets.

“Too much?” she asked. She couldn’t see her eyes in the dim room. Couldn’t read her expression.

She fisted her fingers in the sheets. “Really, really good.”

She kept pumping the pulsing vibrator against her g-spot until Delphine’s body tightened brutally and she panted loud and frantic.

Then she pulled it out. “Sorry. I better stop now or you’ll come. You should be able to get a really good orgasm that way. If you can’t get all the way there, try rubbing your clit at the same time.”

Delphine nodded in acknowledgement of this advice. Her cheeks blazed, and she could feel herself perspiring. Her arousal was a throbbing ache between her legs. “I really need to come,” she admitted, tempted to sneak her own hand between her legs.

“Are you ready for intercourse?”

“Yeah. Please.”

Cosima returned the vibrator to the nightstand as she climbed off the bed. She watched as she slid her silk boxers down over her hips. Her erection sprang free and bobbed a few times. She was big—at least as far as Delphine could tell—hand even in the low light she could see that her shaft was a slightly deeper color than the rest of her.

When she picked up a condom packet, a clench of anxiety tightened in her throat. To distract herself, Delphine asked, “What happens if you aren’t able to get it up?”

Cosima slanted her another odd look. “No worries. I have it up.”

Delphine snorted. “I can see that. It’s very impressively up. I was just wondering in general. I mean, obviously you won’t be attracted to all of your clients. And maybe sometimes you find them very unattractive. Do you have some sort of mental thing you do to make sure you’re up for the job?”

There was a pause as Cosima rolled a condom down over her erection. “Yes,” she said at last. “I do. When people say the brain is the most important sexual organ, they’re not making it up. With some practice, you can think yourself into arousal.”

Delphine considered that as Cosima slicked up her condom-encased cock with a good amount of lube. A weird impulse prompted her to quip, “But you didn’t have to do any mental acrobatics to get hard for me, did you?”

Cosima’s lips twitched. “Of course not.”

She fought a smile and asked, “You say that to all the girls, don’t you?”

“What do you think?” She actually smiled at her. It wasn’t broad and it was half-ironic, but Delphine loved how it changed her whole face. “You ready?”

She nodded again, gulping as she got back into bed and settled herself between her legs. She was big. And she tried not to envision how tightly she would fit.

“I think we better start with missionary,” she said, propping herself up above her. “There’s a good reason it’s the old favorite.”

“Sounds good.” Delphine was washed with waves of heat—it seemed to radiate off her body.

“The pressure is going to be uncomfortable at first. There’s no help for it. You’re very aroused, so that will make it easier. The pressure will get a lot better once I’m all the way in. Try to breathe through it and not clench up—just like you were doing last time. If it’s too bad, tell me and I’ll pull out.”

“Okay.” Once again, her arms felt awkward and in the way. She ended up putting her hands on Cosima’s shoulders. “I’m ready,” she said, breathing deeply and forcing her pelvic muscles to stay relaxed.

She felt the tip of her cock nudging at her entrance. Then about an inch of penetration. It wasn’t bad. She took another deep breath. As she released it, Cosima eased herself in a few inches more. More pressure now.

“All right?”

“Yeah,” she gasped. Her fingers had tightened on her shoulders.

Cosima’s eyes never left her face as she pulled back slightly and readjusted. “Take three more deep breaths. When you let out your breath the third time, I’m going to go in a lot deeper.”

She nodded, tossing her head back and forth on the pillow for a moment as she fought against her instinctive reactions. Then she focused on breathing as Cosima had directed. On her third long exhale, she felt a significant increase in pressure. Cosima’s slide into her was careful, and at one point she pulled back and re-angled before pushing into her again. The discomfort was momentarily so intense she choked out a pained mew.

She heard Cosima breathing above her, and she held herself very still, her cock sheathed in her body. “All right?”

Delphine nodded mutely. The worst of the pain was already easing, but the discomfort remained. She felt too full, too tight, too much.

“Just tell me when you’re ready.” Cosima’s voice was a little hoarse, which was unusual enough to cause her to look up at. Her expression was neutral, however. Just as professional as ever.

She lay for a minute or two, breathing, shifting a little beneath her, and trying to adjust to her size. Finally, she said, “Okay. I think I’m good. Thanks for being so patient.”

Cosima stared down at her, her eyebrows drawing together slightly. “You can take as long as you need.”

Delphine shook her head, a few strands of hair sticking to her hot face. “I feel pretty decent. You’re going to help me, aren’t you? Show me how to do this?”

With a small smile, she said, “Whatever you want.”

She eased her cock out halfway, then pitched her hips forward in an experimental thrust. “All right?”

“Yeah.” She felt overly stimulated but her nervousness was nearly gone. Instead, a surge of excitement coursed through her. She was doing this. She was having sex.

Cosima began a slow, gentle rhythm, her cock sliding inside her in an increasingly pleasurable way. “You can move your hips,” she said after a minute. “See if you can match my rhythm.”

She did as Cosima instructed, still clinging to her shoulders. It made the friction inside her feel even better.

“How is it?” Cosima asked. It was hard to see in the darkened room, but she thought she might be perspiring a little.

“It’s good,” she admitted, “Still a little uncomfortable but nothing too bad.”

Cosima adjusted above her, getting more leverage with her knees. “Let’s see if we can get you to come. I’m going to rub your clit, if that’s all right.”

“Yeah. Good.” Her excitement was rising up now even more, now that the worst was over. And her previous arousal was building back up. She wanted to come. Really wanted to come. “Can we go a little faster?” she asked, starting to get breathless again.

“Of course.”

Cosima adjusted her weight onto her knees, using one straightened arm to brace herself above Delphine. She accelerated her rhythm, her pelvis pumping quickly against Delphine’s. Then she squeezed her free arm between their bodies, down near where they were joined.

Delphine gasped in pleasure when she felt firm pressure on her clit.

“Try to keep moving with me,” Cosima said when Delphine began to wriggle shamelessly in response.

She adjusted her motion, making sure she met each of her thrusts. The erotic momentum inside her was now climbing quickly. Her body tensed and her breathing disintegrated into urgent pants.

Cosima’s head jerked slightly, her eyes cutting to the right. But her voice was low and soothing as she murmured, “That’s right. Good. You’re getting tighter, but remember not to clench up too much. You’ll enjoy it more if you relax.”

Delphine didn’t want to relax. She wanted to snatch at the coiled pressure and force it to finally let go. Her body started to shake as waves of heat and cold washed over her. Cosima’s rhythmic thrusts and the skillful press on her clit trapped her in erotic urgency. The only sounds she made were thick drags for air, and her fingers dug into Cosima’s strong shoulders.

“You’re almost there, Delphine.” Cosima’s voice came as if from a blurry distance. “Try to breathe.”

She sucked in air. Then let it out in a slow exhale. Her body bounced desperately with her feet planted on the mattress and her legs bent up.

“Almost there,” Cosima murmured, “One more breath.”

She was right. On the next exhale, all of her tension broke in pulses of rippling pleasure. Delphine’s mouth opened wide in a silent cry as her body tried to bend backward.

Cosima’s cock suddenly felt so much thicker and harder inside her. She slowed her thrusting until she was just making little pushes into her tightened channel. And she stopped moving completely when Delphine’s body began to relax.

A little giggle escaped her.

Astonished, she tried to bite her lip over the silly sound, but another one rippled out without warning. She released Cosima’s shoulder so she could clamp her hand over her mouth as she kept giggling.

It was an absolutely absurd thing to do. But she was overcome with dizzying relief, pride and accomplishment. She’d had sex at last. And it had been good. And she’d even managed to come.

Cosima’s eyebrows went sky-high.

“Sorry,” she choked out, managing to get herself under control. There was more discomfort between her legs now—since the rising pleasure had faded and Cosima’s cock was still stretching and filling her.

“Is this a good thing?” Cosima asked, her eyes scanning her face.

“Yes,” she admitted. “It’s good. It was good. Thank you.” Before Cosima could reply, she added, “Aren’t you going to come?”

“Only if you want me to.”

“Oh. Why wouldn’t I want you to come?”

“Some of my clients don’t. And some of them want to delay it for as long as possible. Women are often able to climax more than once. If you want, we can try…”

Delphine made a face. “I think I’m going to be sore already. No need to push my luck. Why don’t you come now?”

“It might take a few minutes,” she said, her eyes oddly searching.

She shrugged. “That’s fine. I can practice some more.”

“Tell me if I’m too hard,” Cosima shifted her position, bringing both of her arms down to brace herself. “Or if you change your mind.”

As Cosima built up a new rhythm, fast and just a little harder than she’d been thrusting into her before, Delphine tried to imagine what kind of selfish, heartless bitch would expect a someone to fuck her to orgasm and then pull out without coming. Like they were nothing but a tool, nothing but a dildo.

Then she realized that was exactly how a lot of men had been using women for centuries—as objects designed only for male pleasure. Delphine knew why most women ended up in prostitution. Odds were the woman had suffered some sort of abuse or victimization.

Delphine wondered with a weird little clench if women were different. Or if Delphine had been victimized in some way, physically or emotionally, in the past.

“Everything all right?” Cosima asked thickly, mid-thrust.

Realizing she’d let her mind wander at an inopportune time, she blinked up at her. “Yeah. Sorry. Everything’s good. Keep going.”

Cosima hesitated, so she began to pump up her hips, trying to match her earlier tempo. This appeared to convince her, so she began to thrust again. This time, she watched her, fascinated by the tension on her face and the focused look in her dark green eyes as she stared down at her.

They moved together well, she thought, and she did her best to synchronize the rocking of her pelvis with hers. She could already feel a particular kind of soreness, but it wasn’t bad. Cosima was taking it pretty easy on her.

“Should I do anything else?” she asked, feeling a little breathless again. She knew she wasn’t going to come, but there was something exciting about watching the tension coil tighter and tighter in Cosima’s face and body.

“You’re good,” she muttered. “You’re good.”

She was clinging to her shoulders, and she acutely felt something tickling her wrist. Shifting her eyes, she saw one of her blonde hairs tangled in her hand. She clenched unconsciously in response to the tickling and wriggled her fingers, trying to brush the hair away.

“That’s good,” Cosima grunted, jerking her head to the side abruptly. “You can keep doing that.”

Delphine blinked once, keeping her expression blank. She couldn’t imagine how her little hand jiggle on her shoulder had pleased her. Maybe bodies really work differently. Cosima had done a remarkable job of pleasing her, though, and if she liked it she would do it. So she rippled her fingers lightly along her shoulder, as she’d done before.

Cosima blinked once, almost exactly as she had. Then she made a choked sound in her throat. Then another.

Delphine gasped in shock and bewilderment as her weight suddenly lowered on top of hers. Her elbows had buckled and she was abruptly much closer than before. Her face buried in Delphine’s neck, she made more of those choked sounds and her body shook against hers.

Nothing, not even her orgasm, had felt as good as this did—the inexplicable, uninhibited collapse and Cosima’s shuddering body against hers. Her hips jerked with a few, clumsy, unpracticed thrusts as she huffed, her hot breath blowing against her skin.

For one dazed moment, she thought her little finger wiggle had snapped her control. But it only took a few seconds for her to process what was happening.

Cosima was laughing. Trying desperately to hide and to stifle it, but she was definitely laughing.

“What’s so funny?” she demanded.

“Nothing.” With impressive restraint, she grew still and straightened her arms, pulling herself off of her again. “I’m sorry. Nothing was funny.” Only her eyes and her faintly twitching lips belied the word.

She narrowed her eyes. “You were laughing at me.”

“I wasn’t laughing,” she said, eyes wide now and mouth relaxed. “Sometimes, no matter how hard I try to control myself, something feels so good that I—”

Delphine gave an outraged huff and interrupted, “What a load of crap! I know laughing when I hear it.” Then she realized suddenly why she was lying to her. Accidentally laughing at a client during sex must be a nightmare scenario for her. Her job was to please her, no matter what. So her voice softened as she said, “I’m not going to get mad. I mean it. But if I did something stupid, I’d like to know about it.”

Cosima let out a breath, and her mouth gave one more little twitch. “I was laughing, but not at you. You didn’t do anything stupid .It was my fault. My directions were unclear. When I said you could keep doing that, I didn’t mean the hand. You’d squeezed around me at the same time. That’s what I meant.”

Delphine processed this. “Oh, I get it.” She choked on a laugh herself. “No wonder you lost it.” The more she thought about it, the funnier it got. As she laughed softly, she gasped out, “And I thought you were some weirdo who got off from a little tap on your shoulder.”

Cosima had herself fully under control now, but she smiled as she giggled. “Sorry about that.”

“No, don’t apologize,” she said. “I told you I don’t want to pretend. Did you want to keep going, or have you lost your momentum?” Cosima still felt very hard inside her, but the interruption must have distracted her.

“That’s up to you.”

“I said I’d like you to come, if you think you can.”

“I can. I’m almost there.”

Logically, she had trouble believing her, since surely laughing at her silliness would have been a turn off. But when she began to thrust again and she tried to pump her hips and squeeze her inner muscles around her cock, she was clearly not as controlled as she’d been earlier. Her features twisted slightly and her breathing became louder. Her thrusts got faster, then a little jerky.

She was definitely going to be sore afterwards, but there was something oddly pleasing, oddly compelling, about having a hot, hard, focused woman about to lose it between her legs.

As silly as it sounded, she couldn’t help but feel a little proud of herself.

Cosima jerked her head to the side and froze abruptly, the tension transforming on her face. She took a few ragged breaths and pushed against her a few final times.

She pulled out before Delphine could fully process the alterations of her body—the softening muscles and relaxing tension. She carefully secured the condom as she slid her cock free, and the move made an embarrassing sucking sound and rubbed her raw inner walls painfully.

“Are you all right?” Cosima asked, rolling over to swing her legs over the side of the bed. Her eyes scanned her closely.

“Yeah,” she said honestly, “A little sore, but it was really good. Thank you.”

She gave her a little smile. “I’m going to take care of this, if that’s all right.”

At her affirmation, she picked up the vibrator and went into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. She heard water in the sink and figured she was cleaning up the vibrator while she was there.

Delphine pulled down her chemise and stretched her stiff legs. Then she had a private giggle over her successful devirgining.

She knew it would have been better if she had an emotional connection with the person. She knew there was something missing in doing it the way she had. The sex had been good, but she knew it wasn’t a lie that sex was better with someone you loved. She wrote romance novels. As silly or high-blown as some of them were, romance writers at least understood the importance of love.

She’d done this on her own terms, though, and the heavy weight of anxiety that had always been part of her thoughts on sex had now completely dissipated.

Cosima returned to the room with a wet washcloth, which she used to gently clean between Delphine’s legs. When she’d thanked her and she’d returned the washcloth to the bathroom, she invited her back to bed.

She had her until midnight, and she intended to take advantage of it. Cosima stretched out beside her, rolling on her side and propping her head up on one bent arm. She was completely naked, and showing the long lines and rippling muscles of her body to their best advantage.

Delphine stared at her in admiration for a minute until she realized she was posing for her. As always, the act was very subtle, sophisticated—nothing crude or gaudy about it. But she knew what she was doing. Women must leer at her all the time.

Because she wanted to talk to her and not get distracted, she leaned over and grabbed the boxers off the floor and tossed them over to her.

“Did you have questions for me?” she asked, pulling on her boxers. “Did you think it went well?”

“Yes. It went very well. Thanks so much for being careful and taking your time. I can’t imagine it going better.”

Cosima’s eyes narrowed as she studied her face. “There’s something you want to ask me.”

There was. A foolish, nagging question at the very back of her mind.

“Ask me.”

So Delphine blurted it out, “Do you think I’ll be any good at it? I mean, I seemed to mess up a lot. And there was the stupid thing with the hand. If I don’t have you there guiding me through every step, do you think I’ll be any good at it?”

To her relief, Cosima didn’t brush the question off. She paused as she considered it, and then she met her eyes soberly. “I don’t think any of that reflects your sexual capacities. You were nervous at first. And, even when you got over that, you were still a little self-conscious, I think.” Cosima slanted her a look, as if checking her expression. Maybe to make sure she wasn’t offended. “When people are self-conscious, they tend to fall into a defined role, something that will make them feel safe. You took on the role of learner, which might be why you kept wanting directions. But once you’re past that, you’re going to be just fine.”

She let out a breath, oddly comforted by that matter-of-fact answer. She hadn’t been flattering her or trying to delude her into believing she was some sort of sex goddess. Cosima had told her honest opinions.

Rubbing her belly absently, she thought about the words. She thought about them for a long time. The she finally said, “You know, I think you’re right about that self-consciousness thing. I never thought about it before, but that is what people do. How did you get so smart?”

Cosima cocked an eyebrow at her. “My job provides me with a wide variety of experiences with human nature.”

She snorted. “I guess so.” Still thinking about Cosima’s comments, she put a few more pieces together in her mind. She mused, “You know, I think maybe I intuitively knew that about self-conscious people even before you mentioned it. In one of my books, I had the heroine feel really self-conscious about her appearance. And she always acted—” 

Delphine broke off, noticing a distinct expression of curiosity on Cosima’s face.

For some obvious reasons, she wasn’t planning to tell Cosima about her bestselling alternate identity. She used a penname for a reason, and she was very careful about keeping her private life private—especially something like this.

“You’re a writer?” she asked. She appeared genuinely interested.

“Yeah,” she admitted, figuring it was all right as long as she didn’t know her penname. “I write novels. Romance novels.” She snickered. “Pretty funny, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think one needs vast experience with sex to write a love scene in a romance novel.”

“Hey,” she said, immediately bristling at any apparent slam on her genre. “Don’t be snide about romance novels. Some of them are silly, but there are novels in every genre that are silly.”

“I’m not slamming romance novels,” she assured her with a half-smile. “I’ve read a lot of them myself. Most women who come to me want to have their romantic fantasies fulfilled. It’s emotional as much as sexual for them. Romance novels are one of the best expressions of those romantic fantasies.”

“Wow,” she breathed, eyeing her with faint awe. “You really do your research.”

Cosima lifted her shoulder in a half-shrug. “Of course.”

Irresistibly compelled, she asked, “So who’s your favorite romance writer?”

Cosima thought for a moment. Then she made a face. “I guess it will sound clichéd, since she’s everyone else’s favorite too. But Évelyne Brochu is probably the best I’ve read. She gives her characters a humanness that pushes them beyond the average. Plus, she has a great sense of humor.”

With effort, Delphine kept her face perfectly bland. Évelyne Brochu was her penname. And she was thrilled beyond measure by the casual, thoughtful compliments Cosima had just given her writing. She obviously didn’t know she was talking about her. She looked leisurely and reflective.

Which implied she really meant what she said.

“I like her too, of course,” Delphine said. “But everyone can’t write bestsellers. Some of the rest of us are pretty good too.”

Cosima chuckled. “If you give me a couple of titles, I’ll be happy to read your books. Maybe I already have.”

“I doubt it. But who else do you like?”

Cosima told her about some of the romance writers she liked, and Delphine had a fabulous time quizzing and arguing with her about her opinions on one of her favorite topics. Before she knew it, she glanced at the clock and saw it was eleven forty-five.

She gasped. “Wow. It’s almost midnight.”

Cosima glanced over, and she could have sworn she saw a faint flash of surprise on her face too. “Did you want to do anything else in the last fifteen minutes?”

“No. I’ve definitely had all I can take for tonight. You can take a shower, if you want.”

Cosima thanked her. Then picked up her clothes and went into the bathroom. Delphine pulled up the covers, deciding she felt a little chilly.

When Cosima returned, fully clothed and characteristically cool and polished again, she picked up the lube, extra condom, and the DVD and returned them to her case.

Delphine got up and joined her by the table. “Thanks again. I mean it. I can’t imagine anyone else making it as easy for me as you did.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you feel fully satisfied.”

“Definitely. You’ll get another glowing referral, if anyone asks me about you.”

Cosima flashed her a quick smile, and she slid the envelope of cash toward her. As she put the money in her pocket, she said, “You can always schedule another engagement. There’s plenty more we can do.”

“No, thanks,” she said mildly, stifling the urge to snicker at her excellent business skills. “I just wanted to do this. I’m good now.”

“All right. Just email me if you change your mind.”

She walked her to the door where they looked at each other for a minute. Then Delphine asked one final question. “How many virgins have you had sex with?”

Cosima glanced away, and Delphine could tell she was trying to compose the best answer.

“The truth,” she said. “No pretending. How many?”

Cosima let out a breath and met her eyes. “Just one. You’re my first.”

“Oh.” She swallowed. “You’re my first too.”

They said goodbye then. And as Delphine watched her start down the hall, she acknowledged that she was probably one of the most fascinating people she’d ever met.

And really, really good in bed.

She’d done what she wanted to do. She was a virgin no longer. Now she could approach the rest of her life without the burden that had been troubling her for years.

Getting Celine to research escorts for her had been an excellent idea.

***

The following week, Delphine emailed Cosima asking if she could schedule another engagement.

She replied within the hour, saying she’d had a cancellation for the following Thursday.

She’d decided she might as well get a little more experience while she was at it, since Cosima was available.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not dead, only a very rushed schedule. My birthday, your gift. Enjoy ;)
> 
> A special thanks for the comments and kudos. They motivate us a lot.

That weekend, Delphine went out and bought some new lingerie.

She didn’t have much in the way of lingerie, usually sleeping in tank tops and pajama pants. She really liked the cashmere nightie she’d worn for her second session with Cosima, and she thought it might be wise to buy up a few more similar pieces of nightwear.

It wasn’t that she thought she needed to impress or attract Cosima, but feeling pretty and sexy had made the evening more enjoyable for her. If she was going to do this, she was determined to have a good time.

So she and Celine had a grand shopping expedition on Saturday, searching boutiques and department stores for lingerie that was simple and classy and didn’t look overtly sexy.

Celine, of course, thought the whole situation was hilarious. She couldn’t believe her virginal cousin had scheduled multiple engagements with a escort. Delphine was forced to tolerate a significant amount of teasing over her decision to extend Cosima’s services.

Delphine put up with it good-naturedly. She was kind of embarrassed but she knew it wasn’t worth getting uptight about. Celine's mockery hid genuine affection, and Delphine thought her cousin was probably pleased that Delphine had started to get over her hang-up over sex—even if it had taken this atypical form.

The shopping trip had resulted in several purchases, one of which Delphine put on as she got out of a bath on the following Thursday. The chemise was a silvery-gray satin with gorgeous black lace on the straps, and the same lace overlay the princess-style bodice. It nearly reached her knees and wasn’t particularly revealing, but Delphine felt pretty and elegant as she looked at herself in the mirror.

She brushed out her hair, applied her favorite lotion, and tied on the gray satin robe that was sold with the chemise. Then she went to count her cash and wait for Cosima to arrive.

She’d been anticipating this evening for several days and more intensely for the last few hours. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t need the help of a DVD to get in the mood tonight.

Cosima showed up five minutes early again, dressed in a black suit and white shirt without a tie. When she opened the door, Cosima's eyes scanned her from newly-brushed hair to bare feet. Then her mouth slowly lifted into a smile.

That same urbane, sensual smile that she obviously used as a standard technique.

For some reason, Delphine realized she hated that smile. She felt the irresistible urge to slap it off of her face.

Instead, she asked bluntly, “Don’t you ever wear anything but black and white?”

Cosima blinked and the smile faltered. “Excuse me?”

“Every time I see you, you’re dressed in black and white. I was wondering if you own anything in another color.”

She lifted her eyebrows slightly and her eyes lingered on her own outfit. Black and white.

Delphine sniffed disdainfully as she stepped aside to let her in. “I’m not saying anything is wrong with black and white. I was just wondering.”

“Were you?”

Confused by her slightly amused expression, Delphine wondered what she was implying. Then she decided to just be pleased that she’d gotten rid of that annoying fake smile. 

“Did you have a good week?” The blonde asked, following her into the room.

Cosima put her case on the table as usual and turned to look at her. “It was about normal. You?”

“Pretty good.” Now she was torn between ironic amusement over the bland nature of their small talk and the acknowledgement that, in this context, they would just never get any less superficial.

Her lip twitched as she opened her case. “Did you try the vibrator?”

“Yes,” she said, beaming up at her as she thought about her successes. “It’s great. Thanks so much for getting it for me.”

“Any problems coming?”

“No. I mean, once I get in the mood, I can make it work pretty well.”

She’d been so excited about the vibrator that she’d tried to use it every day. But she’d found that she still had trouble reaching orgasm if she wasn’t really aroused. Concluding that there was no reason to come if she wasn’t really turned-on, she’d determined it to be a success.

“Good.” Cosima pulled out a DVD, a tube of lube, and a couple of condoms from her case. “So, in terms of the parameters for tonight…”

Delphine drew her brows together. “Parameters?”

“Do you want to continue as we have been? I know you’d originally intended to simply have sex for the first time. Does your choosing to continue my services imply you’d like to try something different? I’m happy to help you play out a fantasy. Most of the clients who come to me regularly prefer me to play a more seductive or romantic role than you initially asked for.”

A random thought flashed through her mind, and she wondered if Cosima preferred to play roles, to pretend something that didn’t exist, to act as someone other than herself when she was with her clients.

But that wasn’t what she wanted. It would make her feel fake, silly, and kind of sleazy. So she shook her head. “I prefer the way we did it before, if that’s all right. No pretending or anything.”

“Of course,” Cosima said mildly. “Shall we watch another one of the short films?”

Delphine opened her mouth to say she didn’t need one but then was hit by an unexpected wave of embarrassment and self-consciousness. There was no good reason for it, but she was suddenly mortified by the idea of admitting that she was ready to jump into bed right away. So she just smiled, nodded, and went to sit down on the sofa.

It wasn’t like they could fuck for five whole hours anyway. It was still just her second time.

The second of the short erotic films on the DVD was actually better than the first one, and Delphine was extremely turned-on when it ended thirty minutes later. While Cosima was shutting it off, she stood up and slid off her robe.

She thought she looked nice, and she had every right to wear what she wanted when she was paying a lot of money for the experience. She still felt a wave of self-consciousness, though, when Cosima turned around and took a look at her lacy chemise.

No expression was evident in her dark green eyes. She really hoped she didn’t think she looked silly.

Without being prompted, she went to turn back the covers and lie down. Cosima moved the condoms and lubricant to the nightstand and turned off all the lights except the bathroom light.

She watched as she wordlessly undressed, and this time she wasn’t remotely tempted to snicker.

When she got into bed and moved over her, she sucked in a gasp as Cosima's face lowered toward hers. For a moment, she was sure she would kiss her, but she just trailed a line along her jaw with her lips.

The foreplay was just as slow, attentive, and delicious as it had been before. Delphine panted and squirmed beneath her, occasionally having to bite back a few helpless moans.

After what felt like an exquisite, torturous eternity, Delphine finally couldn’t wait any longer. Her hands were splayed across the back of Cosima's head, and she had to fight not to use her fingernails to dig into the white dreads. One of Cosima's hands cupped her breast, alternating between squeezing and rubbing circles against the nipple. And the other hand had bent up one of her legs so she could reach the sole of her foot. Cosima was giving it the most delicious massage she’d ever experienced. Which, when combined with her mouth moving skillfully between her free breast and her belly, sent Delphine into agonized erotic urgency.

She couldn’t remember ever being this aroused before. And Cosima showed no signs of slowing or stopping.

Part of her was amazed that she was no longer embarrassed or self-conscious. Her classy chemise was pushed up brazenly above her breasts. Her body was twisted into an undignified position, her spine arching and her hips rocking wantonly. Her hands eagerly clutched at Cosima's head, pushing her mouth more firmly against her flesh. And one of her legs was folded up so that her knee was pressed toward her shoulder. The position stretched her groin, and her throbbing arousal was sopping wet and exposed to the cool air of the room. She wasn’t making any noises, but even her frantic breathing sounded shameless and overly eager.

But she wasn’t embarrassed. Not even when she finally gasped out, “No more. Please, Cosima. I need you to fuck me. S'il vous plaît."

Cosima straightened up immediately, releasing the nipple she’d been suckling with a faint smacking sound.

As she rolled the condom onto her hard erection and lubed up, she murmured, “I think we better try missionary again this time. You’re still likely to be really tight.”

Delphine just nodded mutely and tossed her head on the pillow, barely able to hold her body still as she waited.

Then finally Cosima settled herself between her legs, pushing her thighs farther apart and lining her cock up at her entrance. She didn’t use her fingers to test her readiness. She must have already known that she was hotly, wetly aroused.

“Breathe a few times for me,” Cosima said, bracing herself above her and staring down into her face.

Delphine did as she said, and on her third exhale she felt the large cock pushing into her, stretching her inner walls and slowly sinking inside her.

It didn’t hurt nearly as much this time, but the discomfort was still there. She arched up dramatically and fisted her hands in the sheets.

“Is it all right?” Cosima asked a little thickly, holding herself perfectly still.

She managed to look up at her, noticing that her skin had broken out with a faint sheen of perspiration. 

“Yeah. Just give me a minute.”

Cosima waited patiently until she’d relaxed and caught her breath again. Then she reached up to grab at her shoulders the way she had last time. “Okay.”

“Are you going to want me to come again this evening?” Cosima asked, before she started to move.

Delphine just stared up at her, so turned on she had trouble understanding the purpose of the question. 

“It’s easier if I know beforehand, so I won’t take so long after you’ve come. But I’m more than able to delay it,” Cosima explained, “If you want me to stay hard. If you want to come several times—”

“Oh,” she interrupted. Once again, she found the whole idea a little disturbing. “Non. I don’t think so. It’s just my second time and I don’t want you to thrust me raw trying to give me multiple orgasms. You come like last time, if that’s all right.”

“All right.”

She helped Delphine adjust her legs, bending them up on either side of her hips. Then she braced herself on straightened arms and started to thrust.

She focused on pumping her hips in time with hers and she even remembered to squeeze around her occasionally with her internal muscles. This time, they didn’t speak, and the only sounds in the room were her accelerated breathing and the rhythmic squeaking of the bed.

For some reason, the squeaking of the bed—the audible result of their carnal motion—gave her silly jolts of pride and pleasure.

After a few minutes, Delphine's pulse began to race and she felt overwhelmed with waves of heat. Her steady rocking beneath Cosima became more urgent and clumsy as the deep pressure of her arousal began to tighten into a delicious knot.

Cosima's eyes were focused and unreadable, but she thought she could see her features begin to tense up a little. That tiny evidence of physical response made Delphine clench around her cock.

Cosima grunted when she did and jerked her head to the side. Her steady thrusting speeded up but never faltered. She’d moved her hands unconsciously down to her ass, and she could feel the firm muscles there clenching and unclenching with each pitch of her hips.

She began to shake as the erotic pressure got deeper and deeper at her center. She writhed beneath her, desperate for it to finally break.

“You’re about to come, Delphine,” Cosima murmured hoarsely. “Try not to clench up like that.”

She gave a soft, tiny sob as her body twisted. “I can’t. Help.”

She shifted her weight onto one hand. She adjusted Delphine's legs again, pushing them up even farther. Then she pulled up enough to squeeze her free hand down between their bodies so she could find and massage her clit.

Her orgasm broke at the first pressure of her thumb. Her cry of pleasure and relief was no more than a raspy exhale, but her whole body shook and jerked beneath her as the spasms sliced through her.

Cosima slowed her thrusts, pushing deliciously against her contractions until her body had ridden out the pleasure. Then she asked, “You ready for me to come too?”

“Yeah,” she gasped, flushed and sated by her hard climax. “Yeah.”

She felt incredibly tight as she pumped into her with a fast, choppy rhythm. She squeezed around her cock the best she could and dug her fingers into her shoulders.

It didn’t take her nearly as long to come this time, and she watched as the tension cracked on her face and a blaze of pleasure flared up in her eyes. She let out a choked sound and then a thick exhale as her body finally let go.

There was something deliciously hot and soft about her body after she came. Delphine felt it under her hands and between her legs. She only had a few seconds to enjoy it, however, because Cosima pulled off and out of her almost immediately.

When she got up to dispose of the condom, she pulled down her now wrinkled chemise. She felt kind of weird. Warm, relaxed and pleased with herself but at the same time wanting even more. She was a little sore, but not as much as last time. In an hour or so, she might be up for another round.

It was just after nine o’clock. They still had a lot of time before midnight.

When Cosima returned, she pulled on her silk boxers and stretched out beside her, obviously realizing she wasn’t through with her yet.

Cosima turned her head and smiled at her. It wasn’t a broad or uninhibited smile, but it was much better than the one she’d used earlier. “How was it?”

“Good,” she admitted. “Really good. The best one yet. And I didn’t need all the detailed instructions, so that has to be progress.”

“How do you feel?”

“Not bad. Just a little sore. But I think maybe later, we could...” She trailed off, annoyed with herself for feeling a little surge of self-consciousness at her obvious eagerness to have sex with her again.

“We have plenty of time.”

They lay in silence for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts. After a while, Delphine turned her head to look at Cosima beside her.

Tonight, she couldn’t tell if she was posing or not. She lied on her back with herhands twined behind her head. Her body was relaxed, but her position highlighted the muscles development in her arms and abs.

She let her eyes linger on her fine breasts, her tight belly, and then her legs and bare feet. When her eyes returned to her white dreads, she felt a familiar question prod her unmercifully.

As if she’d somehow been able to tell the difference between her leisurely leer and her intense curiosity, Cosima glanced over at her. “What is it?”

“I’m sure you get asked this all the time, but I’m dying to know.”

Her mouth quirked up slightly. “The white hair thing?”

She nodded sheepishly. “I can’t even tell if you dye it. It feels amazing.”

“I don’t dye it. White hair started to grow when I was seventeen. It was completely white by the time I was twenty-three. It’s a hereditary thing. Ran in my mother’s family.”

Delphine was uncharacteristically silent, watching her face, trying to figure out if it was a sensitive subject for her.

Finally, she asked, “Weren’t there any treatments or whatever you could have tried?” Cosima looked calm and natural, and so she hoped she wasn’t being unforgivably rude.

Not that it necessarily would have stopped her.

“Yes. There were. Medical treatments or even actually dying it. I was…encouraged to try them.” The brief falter in her reply surprised her, as she’d never heard her stumble over her words before.

“You didn’t want to try them?”

Cosima hesitated and met her eyes. And something in her expression must have encouraged her to continue, “No. My father wanted me to do something about it, and I wasn’t inclined to do what he said.”

“A teenage rebellion thing?”

Cosima gave a half-shrug. “Maybe. There’s a long history, and it’s not a pretty one. Maybe it was just a way to rebel, but my mother died when I was very young and the white hair thing came from her family, so it seemed important that I…”

When she didn’t finish, Delphine said softly, “That you affirm her memory that way?”

“Yeah. My father wasn’t always kind to her.” She cut a quick glance over to her, as if she didn’t intend to say as much as she had.

She didn’t speak for a minute, not wanting to come off as too nosy and have her close up. Then, “Was he mad about it? About your not treating it like he wanted?”

“Yes,” Cosima admitted softly, her eyes shifting to stare up at the ceiling. “He was mad. That was the turning point.”

There was something here. Something Delphine desperately wanted to know. A story. A history. The shadows of Cosima's background. She was dying to ask her, to give her a whole inquisition—despite the guarded look in her eyes and the slight tension on her face.

But she had grown up a lot since she was a child and blurted out any question on her mind. Now, occasionally, she could manage to keep her mouth shut.

So she didn’t push her, realizing it might bother her or hurt her feelings. Instead, she just said, “I’m sure you know you’re absolutely gorgeous and the white hair just makes you look more fascinating, so I think you made the right decision.”

Cosima's expression relaxed and she turned back to her with a slight twitch of her lips. “I appreciate your affirmation, but where were you when I was seventeen years old and all the kids thought I was a freak?”

She laughed softly at her dry question and responded in kind. “I was probably still playing jump-rope, don’t you think? I’m twenty-six.”

Her smile widened briefly. “Yeah. That’s about right. I probably wouldn’t have thought much of the admiration of a ten-year-old. Besides, when you were a teenager, you were probably crazy about some jock with coloured hair."

To Delphine's absolutely annoyance, she blushed.

Chuckling, Cosima said, “Thought so.”

She made a face at her, but she answered willingly enough. “I was in love with my best friend—who was definitely jock material. She, of course, never thought about me that way. But I was in love with her all through high school and college.”

“That’s a long time to be in love with someone who doesn’t love you back.”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “Sometimes you hold onto something—just because."

Cosima met her eyes. “In my experience, it’s rarely just because.”

Delphine was silent for a long time, thinking about that. Thinking about her hopeless yearning after her friend. So many years of her life.

No wonder she was a failure at love.

Eventually, she let the questions and insecurities dissolve into her memories and she turned back to look at Cosima. Her eyes were closed, and she didn’t know if she was dozing or if she was just giving her some privacy for her thoughts.

Gazing at her white hair—which she now found infinitely attractive—she thought about how Cosima must have felt at seventeen.

“You must have been so lonely,” she blurted out.

Cosima's eyes flew open and she turned toward her with a little jerk of surprise. “Excuse me?”

“As a teenager,” she explained, feeling silly at her lack of segue. “I was just thinking you must have been so lonely. Kids can be cruel about things like that.”

Cosima gave a half-shrug. “I’ve grown accustomed to not having a proper hair color.”

“Of course. In fact, I’m sure it’s been an advantage in your profession, since it makes you look so cool and interesting. But I meant as a teenager. Even though you had your reasons for not doing anything about it, it still must have been…hard.”

Cosima swallowed and gave another half-shrug.

Obviously, this wasn’t something she wanted to talk about. So Delphine changed the subject by saying, “Can I feel it?”

Cosima blinked at her.

“Your dreads.” She waved in the direction of her head, suddenly wishing she hadn't asked. “It’s fine if you don’t want me to—”

“Of course, you can,” Cosima said. She adjusted so that her head was within arms' length of her.

She gently, almost delicately, stroked her dreads with her fingertips. It really did feel strangely awesome.

She let out a breath as she caressed her and ridiculously felt her own body respond.

She really wasn’t very sore anymore.

When she brushed against a spot on the side of Cosima's head, she heard a breath hitch very slightly. Whether or not it was in response to her touch, the sound made her inner muscles clench in excitement.

Without her volition, her hands trailed down her head and neck to gently caress her breasts. Cosima lied still and perfectly silent as Delphine softly played with her nipples. Then her hands lowered and lingered on the rippling muscles of her flat abdomen.  
She felt the sensations under her fingertips deepened in her growing arousal.

After several minutes, during which her breathing accelerated audibly, Cosima murmured, “Again?”

She nodded. She’d been noticing some progress in her boxers, but she didn’t know if it was from her touch or because of the mental thing she did to prepare herself. “Is it all right if we try another position this time?”

“Of course. It’s always your choice.”

Feeling very brave, she swung her leg over her hips and straddled her prone body. “Like this?”

“Of course.”

Cosima raised her hands and stroked her upper body over her satin chemise, her skillful touch triggering nerve endings and pleasure receptors and causing Delphine to drop her head back for a moment. Then she eased her upper body down so Cosima could take one of her breasts in her mouth, stroking her hard nipple with her tongue through the thin lace and slippery fabric.

She suckled and kissed her breast for a few minutes while her hands slipped under the chemise to caress and fondle her back, thighs, and bottom.

She’d thought being on top was supposed to make one feel more in control, but she felt helpless and overwhelmed by the growing sensations as she sprawled on top of her and panted hotly into the pillow.

She gasped when she felt one of Cosima's hands at the hot, swollen flesh between her thighs. Then she nipped her over-sensitized nipple and slipped two fingers into her wet, clinging channel.

She bit down into the pillow as a jolt of intense pleasure shot through her.

“Do you like that?” Cosima asked, her voice once more sounding just a little hoarse. Her mouth was still against her breast, and the vibrations traveled through the wet fabric to stimulate her even further.

“Mm-hmm,” she whimpered, her voice muffled by the pillow. “Mm-hmm.” She had to hold herself back from humping her belly, since her clit was getting some delicious, indirect stimulation on her torso. She managed to turn her head and gasp out, “More.”

Cosima nipped at her nipple again and started to pump her fingers inside her. She buried her face in the thick pillow again, desperately glad Cosima was lying far enough down on the bed for the pillow to be in her reach. She let her mouth and fingers build her up toward climax.

She’d been gasping and grunting softly into the pillow, but after a few minutes of ever-increasing urgency she turned her head and begged, “Cosima, please make me come.”

“I will,” she murmured, the rhythm of her fingers accelerating even more. She twirled her nipple with her tongue with agonizing skill and added, “You’re close now. I can feel it.”

For some reason, her words made Delphine want to whimper so she hid her face in the pillow again. Her fingers were curling against her g-spot, applying hard, steady pressure exactly where she needed to feel it. She hadn’t touched her clit at all, and the bit of flesh was pulsing and swollen.

Delphine's body tightened. She suddenly realized she was going to come without any stimulation on her clit. She shook desperately. Then felt Cosima's teeth on the soft flesh of her breast.

She came, biting down on the pillow and trying shamelessly to ride her fingers to draw out the sensations.

When her body had softened, she was able to summon up enough energy to pull herself up. “Wow.”

Cosima's face was slightly flushed, probably because she’d been nearly smothering her by pushing her breasts into her face.

“Am I going to be too tight now?” she asked, scooting down Cosima's body until she was straddling her thighs. She could see that she was fully erect beneath the thin fabric of her boxers.

“I think you’ll be all right.”

She pulled down her shorts while Cosima reached over to grab the condom packet and lube from the nightstand. Then she waited while she rolled on the condom and slicked her cock up with lubricant.

“All right,” Cosima said, holding her cock upright with one hand. “You still want to do it this way?” She nodded, mesmerized by the sight of her waiting erection. “Lift up and we’ll get ourselves lined up. It takes a little practice.”

Delphine raised herself with her thighs and scooted forward until she was poised above her cock. Then she lowered herself slowly and, with Cosima's help with alignment, was able to slide her body down over the substance of her erection.

It was tight, and it took a minute to adjust and catch her breath. Then Cosima helped her ride her, guiding her motion with her hands on her hips.

She rocked over her, trying to build a steady, pleasing rhythm the way Cosima always did when she moved above her. She wasn’t sure she did it very well, but finally she found an angle and speed that seemed to bring the most pleasure.

Delphine was glad she was still wearing her chemise, even if it was wrinkled and the fabric was wet at the breasts from Cosima's mouth. She felt eyes on her, scanning her body and motion in what was likely observation designed to give her the best advice about improving her technique. But Cosima's hands were firm on her hips, and her face was once again damp with perspiration.

After several more minutes, Cosima moved one of her hands under the fabric of her chemise until she could find her clit. As she started to massage it, Delphine's head fell back and her spine arched.

“There you go,” Cosima murmured. “Can you come again?”

“Yeah,” she said on a taken breath, feeling like her eyes might roll back in her head from the raw feeling of her cock's penetration from this angle and the firm massage on clit.

She rode her until she came, and then her body bounced and jiggled in response to the spasms of release. She kept moving over her, even after she came, because Cosima hadn’t yet come herself.

“You came?” Cosima asked thickly.

She blinked. “Yes. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Thought so. But you’re always so quiet.” She jerked her head to the side as Delphine's inner muscles tightened involuntarily. “Should I—”

“Yes. That’s all I can handle tonight. You come now.”

Flushed, sated, and ridiculously proud of herself, she gazed down at her and intensified her motion, trying to squeeze around her as best she could despite the soreness she already felt.

Cosima began to buck up into her from below—not hard or rough, just little upward pushes of her hips. In less than a minute, her back arched up just a little and her face transformed with her climax.

Completely exhausted, Delphine collapsed on top of her as she felt the pulses of her release. Her body was hot beneath her, and it was starting to soften deliciously. She gasped and clung—completely unconscious of doing so.

“Let me up for a minute,” Cosima said, “So I can take care of the condom. I can hold you afterwards, if you want.”

Delphine rolled off her immediately, wincing as she pulled her body off of her cock. She pulled up the covers against the chill of the room, but she shook her head when Cosima returned and gave her a questioning look. “No. I don’t want any fake cuddling. Thanks, though.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t know my body was capable of feeling that way,” she admitted, glad she was already flushed so she wouldn’t see her blushing even more at the memory of her shameless eagerness.

Cosima gave her a little smile. “You might be surprised by what your body is capable of feeling.”

That made her blush even more. But, keeping her courage up, she quipped, “We’ll have to test that theory next time.”

Cosima chuckled as she returned the lube and DVD to her case. “So you want to schedule another engagement?”

“Definitely. When do you have open?”

Cosima pulled out a smartphone to check her schedule. “My earliest is two weeks from tomorrow.”

“That will be just fine. Put me down.” She couldn’t remember her schedule but figured there was nothing important enough to keep her from taking her earliest slot.

“You can book ahead if you want,” Cosima offered. “If you want to schedule regular engagements.”

Delphine swallowed. That was exactly what she wanted to do, but she wasn’t sure whether she was emotionally ready yet to schedule weekly or bi-weekly appointments with a escort. It would mean committing to this lifestyle, and that still made her feel a little weird.

At least this way, she could decide on the next appointment on a case-by-case basis. And she could change her mind at any time without seriously inconveniencing Cosima.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, smiling at her teasingly. “But why am I not surprised you threw that option out there?”

She blinked and her face grew strangely still. “What do you mean?”

A little surprised by her reaction, she explained, “Just that you’re the quintessential businesswoman , always looking to expand her business.”

Cosima relaxed. “Right.”

“You can take a shower again, if you want.”

She thanked her, grabbed her clothes, and then went into the bathroom. Delphine stretched out in the bed as she showered, thinking that she was going to really sleep well tonight. She’d spent the night in the hotel room the week before after Cosima had left, and she decided to do so again tonight. After three orgasms this evening, she was feeling incredibly relaxed and there was nothing like sleeping late into the morning in a plush hotel room.

When Cosima returned fully dressed, she got up and went to stand beside her near the table. “Thank you” she said, sliding the cash in the envelope over to her. “I mean it. Thanks for all your help.”

Cosima arched her eyebrows over the envelope, which she discreetly slipped into her pocket.

Her expression made it clear. She’d paid for her help. She had nothing to thank her for.

Delphine sighed, although she wasn’t really surprised or disappointed. They were more friendly and relaxed around each other now, but it wasn’t like they’d ever be friends. Delphine paid her for her time and attention, and thus their interaction would always be professional.

A little part of Delphine's mind told her that this was exactly why she was able to be comfortable with it.  
As she walked Cosima to the door, she asked randomly, “If refusing the hair treatments was a teenage rebellion thing, have you ever considered doing anything about it now?”

Cosima frowned. “I thought you said you liked it.”

“I do. I was just wondering.”

She seemed to think for a minute. Then said, “I still have no desire to concede to my father’s wishes.”

She opened the door.

Delphine had more questions than ever, but Cosima was leaving and she wasn’t able to ask them. She was such a fascinating woman, with shadowed layers that were just begging to be uncovered. And she had a tantalizing hint of humanness underneath the suave sex-machine surface.

Next time, Delphine would pry even more. Start to figure out more of her history and what made her tick.

She stuck her head out the door and said, “Have a good evening.”

“You too,” Cosima replied. “I’ll see you two weeks from tomorrow.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

She, of course, was looking forward to the sex. But she was also looking forward to finding some more answers to the enigma that was Cosima.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not dead. Enjoy.

Delphine slathered melon-scented lotion on her legs before she pulled a slinky robe over the Chinese silk gown in deep reds and golds that she’d bought in Hong Kong the week before.

She went over to pull an envelope of cash out of her purse and placed it on the table in the hotel room, just as she heard her cell phone buzz.

Glancing at the caller ID, she connected and said, “Hi, Celine.”

“Hey there! So you’re finally back, are you? You’ve been gone forever.”

Delphine had called her cousin as soon as her plane had landed that afternoon and had left a message saying she’d arrived safely. “I’ve just been gone a month. Hardly forever.”

“Well, it felt like forever to me. I guess you were having such a grand time scouting out exotic locales that you didn’t miss me at all.”

Delphine chuckled. She’d spent four weeks in Hong Kong doing research for her new book and attending an international fiction conference where she’d given a workshop on writing romance. It had been a good trip, and she was glad she’d gone.

“So are you going to come over tonight? I’ve got beer and we can order pizza.”

“We’ll have to do it tomorrow,” Delphine said, returning to the bathroom to run a brush through her loose hair.

“Why? What are you doing tonight?”

Delphine blushed a little as she stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was shiny, hanging down in big waves around her shoulders. Her cheeks were rosy and her smooth skin was set off by the vibrant colors of the silk. And her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

She was so impatient she felt like squirming, and it was still fifteen minutes until seven.

“I have plans tonight,” she said vaguely, knowing as she spoke the words that her evasion would never work.

After a brief pause, Celine exclaimed, “You’re seeing her tonight, aren’t you?”

“Celine,” Delphine began, turning the word into a warning.

Celine, of course, ignored it. “You are! As soon as you hit the ground in Toronto, you rush right into her arms!”

“I’m not rushing into her arms,” Delphine said, a little annoyed by her cousin’s implications since it didn’t at all capture her interaction with Cosima. “We just scheduled an engagement for this evening.”

“An hour after you land?”

“Two hours,” Delphine corrected. “And that’s just the way it worked out.”

“You keep insisting that this thing isn’t serious, but tell me the truth. You’re not getting Pretty Woman inspired daydreams, are you?”

“No! Of course not. Give me a little credit. I’m not a fool. I like her. And I like the sex. And I pay her for her services. I’m not pretending it’s anything romantic. That’s just not how we are together. It’s professional.”

“All right. I guess I believe you. I thought this whole thing was cool and fun at first. But I get worried every now and then. You’re not using it as a crutch, are you?”

“Of course not.” Delphine sighed. She knew her cousin genuinely cared about her, and that Celine couldn’t really understand her relationship with Cosima just by hearing about it second-hand. “I’m pursuing real relationships. I am. Did I tell you I met someone?”

“What!” Celine demanded. “Who? When? Where?”

Delphine chuckled, glad of the distraction and glad that she’d saved this bomb to drop on Celine with maximum impact. “Asked like a true reporter. I met him at the writer’s conference. He’s from Toronto too. He’s a lawyer-turned-writer. You’ll never guess who it is.”

Celine hesitated for a moment, obviously searching her mind for possibilities. “How incredible would it be if it was that hot Aldous Leekie. I saw him on a morning news show last month. He had the most delicious jeans on and, with that five-o’clock shadow, wow!”

Delphine grinned against her cell phone. “That’s the one. He was wearing those jeans when I met him.”

Celine squealed in thrilled delight.

“I’ll have to tell you the details tomorrow. I think he’s interested though. We talked a lot. And we already made a lunch date for next week, and he asked if I’d go with him to a museum fundraiser next Saturday. I haven’t been this excited about someone in a long time.”

“I’m dying for more info, but I’ll try to restrain myself until tomorrow. Just tell me this. If you’ve got this hot, scruffy, manly man waiting in the wings, why are you rushing back to fuck your gigolo?”

Delphine swallowed. Then she shrugged in the empty room. “It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’ve been having sex with Cosima every week or so for the last three months. And now I’ve been away for a month. I guess I’m sort of in the habit.”

“I get it,” Celine cackled, “You’re horny!”

After an appropriately snide reply, Delphine hung up. She knew Celine was right, though.

She was horny. Hornier than she’d ever been in her life. She’d taken her vibrator with her to Hong Kong and had had to make use of it almost every day. It hadn’t been fully satisfying, however. She’d lain in bed more nights than she’d like to admit fantasizing about what she’d do with Cosima when she returned to Toronto.

The truth was she had rushed back to meet up with her again. She wasn’t sure she could wait another night.

She’d been anticipating so much that she was already wet , despite the distraction of her conversation with Celine. She sat down on a chair and glared at the clock, which still said there were nine more minutes until Cosima's arrival.

Then there was an unexpected knock on the door. Cosima was miraculously, wonderfully early.

Delphine flew to the door and flung it open.

Cosima stood in front of her—lean, slick, and handsome in a blue dress shirt and black tailored trousers. She looked so scrumptious she wanted to slurp her down.

She smiled at her, appearing genuinely pleased to see her. “How was your trip?”

“No time for that.” Delphine yanked her into the room and pushed her toward the bed, already fumbling with the buttons to her shirt.

A few minutes later, Cosima was naked and her own beautiful Chinese silk gown was disgracefully pushed up past her breasts so Cosima could mouth and stroke her bare flesh.

Delphine clutched at her head, pushing her mouth her sensitized nipple more firmly. She couldn’t stop pulling at her, trying to get her as close as possible, feel her as much as she could. Her thighs were parted and her legs wrapped around her middle. She wriggled and rocked beneath her so she could rub her aching clit against Cosima's belly.

To her relief, Cosima wasn’t as leisurely as usual. Her mouth was hard and hungry, and her hands were demanding and seeking. She must have some instinct from years of experience that was able to tap into her mood because her hot urgency was exactly what she needed, exactly what she felt herself.

She squirmed and clawed at her as she worked her up into deeper desire until she couldn’t take anymore. “Enough, Cosima,” she gasped. “I need you to fuck me now.”

She didn’t hesitate. Barely raised her face from her breast. Just reached over and grabbed for a condom and the lubricant from the nightstand. Then she finally pulled herself up.

Her face was a little flushed and her skin damp with light perspiration as she rolled on the condom and slicked herself up with lube.

Delphine practically howled with impatience until she parted her legs and stroked her open with her fingers. Without prelude, she sunk two fingers inside her, curling them up to massage her g-spot.

She made an odd throaty noise—almost like a purr—and arched her spine up off the mattress. As she pumped her fingers inside her, she tried to concentrate enough to decide what position she wanted to use today. They’d been experimenting and she now had quite a few positions in her repertoire. But she couldn’t make her mind work through her heated haze to settle on one to request of Cosima tonight.

As it happened, she didn’t need to. Instead of waiting for her lead, Cosima muttered, “Why don’t you turn over?”

Delphine did as she suggested automatically, her body clenching in excitement. Her fingers remained inside her as she rolled onto her stomach, and the feel of the penetration as she shifted position was delicious and debauched.

Cosima adjusted her hand to accommodate her sprawl on her stomach and Delphine almost whimpered in pleasure as she fucked her with her fingers. Unconsciously, she lifted her bottom to give her better access, and she felt her free hand stroking and squeezing the soft flesh of her hips and ass.

“Mon Dieu, Cosima,” she gasped, her head jerking to the side as she felt a climax tightening inside her already. “I need to come so bad.”

Cosima made a strange sound. A grunt or something. And then she pulled her fingers out. Before she could whine about the loss of penetration, she’d replaced it with her cock.

She slid into her with a smooth, hard stroke, and she bit back a cry of pleasure at the tight, tantalizing feel of her inside her.

She managed to look back over her shoulder at Cosima. She was straddling her thighs and holding her bottom high enough to allow her access. But Delphine's upper body was flattened on the bed, and she felt helpless and deeply sexy at the same time.

She clawed at the bedding and moved a pillow lower so she could bury her face into it if she felt the need to scream.

When she began to thrust, her presence hot and tense and powerful above her, she was pretty sure she was going to need the pillow. The pressure of an orgasm was already at its breaking point, and her body writhed and shook beneath her hard, steady thrusts from behind.

“Mon Dieu,” she mumbled, burying her face in the pillow as the tension shattered in a hard climax. She smothered her cry of release so it came out as a muffled mewing sound. The tremors of her orgasm shook her whole body, and she heard Cosima make a guttural sound as her pulsing inner muscles tightened brutally around her cock.

She kept thrusting though, and she was able to turn her head and gasp for air as the sensations finally leveled off. “More,” she rasped, fisting her hands in the sheets as she prepared herself for more pleasure. “Please, more.”

Cosima didn’t say anything. She hadn’t said a word since she’d told her to turn onto her stomach. But she could feel her intensely at her back. Some sort of intense vibrations were radiating off of her, slamming into her, and spurring her on to even higher need.

Her rhythm built back up, and the stroking of her cock into her tightened body was hard and almost raw. But she needed even more of it. She tried to pump her hips to meet hers, although her position allowed very little freedom of motion. Her pelvis slapped against the soft flesh of her bottom on every in-stroke, and the wanton sound mingled with the bed’s shaking and their loud, desperate breathing.  
Then she wrapped an arm around her hips until her hand found her swollen intimate flesh. Cosima rubbed her clit in a massage so urgent it was almost clumsy, and the additional stimulation caused Delphine to choke on new waves of pleasure.

She came again. This time, she wasn’t prepared and she moaned and whimpered as she rode out the pleasure, not finding the coordination to hide her face in the pillow. As she contorted her face and sobbed out her second release, she heard Cosima make a rough, wordless sound behind her.

Her rhythm grew suddenly rough and choppy, and her hips pistoned against her ass. She kept rubbing her clit, and her body was trapped between the conflicting sensations of her fucking and her massage.

She shook and shuddered as the tension tightened inside her again. Cosima's thrusts were rough and urgent, and she could feel the heat of her body, hear the almost frantic sound of her panting.

“Oh God,” she choked, her spine arching and her head lifting involuntarily off the bed. “Gonna come again.”

Without warning, Cosima was right behind her, on top of her, just at her back. Before she knew what it meant, she felt her teeth on her skin as she bit down on the dip of her shoulder.

She cried out loudly—no pillow to muffle it—and came hard. As her body convulsed and the spasms of pleasure sliced through her, she was conscious of Cosima's pelvis jerking against her bottom. The stifled, guttural sounds she made as she climaxed were drowned in her own cry of release.

She collapsed forward when she finally came down, her body limp, sweaty, hot, and deliciously sated. She felt Cosima's weight at her back, her hot breath against her neck and shoulder. For just a moment, it felt wonderful—like she was as replete as she was.

“Wow,” she croaked. “Wow.”

Cosima grunted.

“Wow. That was...wow.”

She grunted again.

“That was...that was incredible, Cosima.” She’d never come so hard in her previous engagements with Cosima. She’d never come so hard in her life.  
Then she felt Cosima pull her weight off of her and then pull her cock from her still clinging channel. She stumbled to the bathroom to take care of the condom, and she heard the water running. She was gone for a lot longer than normal, and she started to wonder if something was wrong with her.

She hadn’t seemed quite her normal self today, she realized. She hadn’t talked much, and she hadn’t been as slow and attentive as normal.

Maybe she’d been having a bad day. She seemed to be into the sex, but she figured she couldn’t feel like being the patient, careful mentor every single evening. Plus, she’d spurred them both into urgency tonight.

She hoped she wasn’t upset about anything, though. She’d hate to have had such an amazing time if she had been worried about something else.

When she finally came back, she reached down to pull on her boxers like usual before she stretched out on the bed beside her.

She studied her face, but it revealed nothing but her typical, cool composure. “You all right?”

Cosima blinked, clearly surprised by the question. “Of course. You?”

She gave her a crooked smile. “I’m pretty good.”

“The sex was all right?” she asked, her eyes sharp and observant as if she were searching for something in her expression.

Now, Delphine was incredibly confused. “Um, yeah. Did you miss it? All right is a massive understatement.”

Her face relaxed slightly. “And you... you came enough?”

Delphine frowned. Surely she hadn’t been so distracted that she hadn’t even been paying attention to the way she’d enjoyed the sex and her multiple orgasms. She knew theirs was a professional relationship, but she didn’t like the idea of her focus being elsewhere. In fact, it bothered her a lot. “Yes. Three times is pretty good. Is it not enough for your ego?”

Cosima relaxed his expression even more. She even smiled at her. “My ego is doing all right. Thank you.”

She seemed more natural now, so she hoped it had just been a temporary distraction. She certainly didn’t want Cosima swooning over her like a tragic romance hero, but she hated the idea that she was just going through empty motions with her. They weren’t in love. They weren’t even friends. But they got along pretty well. And she hoped that maybe she could enjoy the sex a little with her.

“So how was your trip?” Cosima asked, turning onto her side the way she usually did when they chatted in between rounds of sex.

More comfortable now that they’d fallen into their normal routine, she talked to her for a while. She told Cosima about her research in Hong Kong. Part of her knew she needed to be careful, or she would figure out who she was when her next book was released. Still, she couldn’t help sharing some of the funny stories and interesting tidbits she’d discovered.  
As they chatted, she realized she hadn’t just missed the sex. She’d missed their conversations. Her wry, intelligent perspective and understated, dry humor.  
When she asked her about her month, she gave her no details. She never did. But she mentioned a few books she’d read and a trip she’d made to Martha’s Vineyard. She assumed the trip was part of a job, but Delphine avoided asking for information about it. She really didn’t want to know who’d hired her for the weekend trip or what they’d done together.

“How did you like that position just now?” Cosima asked, after they’d fallen into companionable silence after a long chat.

“Good. Obviously.” Delphine slanted her an ironic smile. “Is that a favorite one for people?”

“Rear entry usually is.”

“I guess it gives them a caveman thrill.”

Cosima arched an eyebrow at her. “I suppose.”

Genuinely curious, she asked, “Do you ever get a caveman thrill?”

She was staring at the ceiling now and, at the question, she let out a slightly bitter chuckle. “I don’t think there’s much caveman left of me.”

Delphine frowned, wondering what that meant. Wondering if she’d grown so cosmopolitan, cultured, and cynical that she felt like all surface—no longer possessing core, innate passions or drives.

The thought made her a little bit sad.

She’d never gotten much out of her about her background, beyond the little she’d said about her parents and the thing with her hair. Several things she said implied she’d been born wealthy. She knew she’d been to college and maybe even graduate school. And she knew it was her bitter relationship with her father that had pushed her into her chosen profession.

She didn’t know if Cosima's life-choices were acts of revenge or desperation. Maybe they were both.

“I’m sure you can act the caveman pretty well,” she said casually, realizing her eyes were resting on her and not wanting her to know what she’d been thinking.

“Of course, I can. Are you interested in that?”

She sneered at her. “How many times do I have to say that I don’t want to pretend anything with you?”

Cosima gave a half-shrug. “Just asking.”

“I know what you can do. And do very well. So what won’t you do with one of your clients?” Delphine asked randomly, not even sure what prompted the question.

Raising her eyebrows, she asked, “Looking to expand your repertoire?”

Delphine snickered. “No. I’m pretty happy with what we have going. I was just curious. Are there things that you refuse to do as part of your services?”

“Of course.”

“What are they?” When Cosima hesitated, she added, “It might be good for me to know, so I don’t accidentally ask for one of them.”

“I doubt that would happen. I’m pretty good at sizing people up. You’re not into anything I won’t do.” She spoke easily, naturally, and she looked relaxed and gorgeous stretched out on the bed wearing just a pair of silk boxers.

Delphine privately wondered whether or not she was uncomfortable at her intimate knowledge of her character—or at least at how deeply she believed herself to know her. “So you really won’t tell me?”

“I won’t do men,” she began.

Delphine blinked. It wasn’t what she expected her to begin with.

“It does come up,” she explained at her blank look. “Not as much now, since I only work through referrals. But I used to get a lot of requests.” She shook her head. “It’s just a personal preference. I work with women.”

Delphine nodded, somehow pleased with learning this fact about her, although she recognized her satisfaction as irrational. “What else?”

“I no longer do threesomes. I allow a third to watch but not to participate.”

“Why not? What if both of them are women?”

Cosima's lip gave an almost imperceptible twitch. The first one tonight. The sight of it made her happy. 

“Honestly, a threesome is too much work. It’s too hard to focus enough on two women at the same time. I invest a lot of thought and concentration into each engagement, and I can’t work as effectively if my attentions are torn between two women.”

“Interesting.” She was starting to feel a little weird now. She couldn’t help but wonder how much work and focus having sex with her had cost Cosima. She pushed through the foolish worry and prompted, “What else?”

“I don’t do anal sex.”

“Why not?”

“For a number of reasons. It takes a lot of time and effort to make the act comfortable, and it’s done best with a level of trust that doesn’t exist between me and a client. I provide romance, and the logistics of anal tends to spoil the mood. Plus, it’s just too hard on the condom.”

“It is?”

Cosima nodded and blew out a breath. “The percentage of breakages is much higher with anal. Not even the higher price I could charge makes it worth the risk.

Delphine didn’t have to prompt her to continue her list again. She went on, “I don’t do hardcore S&M. There’s not a high demand for that with my clients anyway, and it doesn’t happen to be one of my talents. I refuse to do anything that has the potential to do physical harm. No whipping, caning, significant bondage, cutting off airways.”

Delphine stared at her. She wasn’t looking at her, but her face was perfectly sober.

“It’s not worth the risk to me,” she explained. "Obviously, I’d be as careful as possible, but I can’t guarantee no accidents or flukes. As I said, there’s not a high demand for it anyway with my clients. They’re looking for romantic fantasies, for the most part. So I don’t do anything beyond silk bindings for a limited period of time and the occasional spanking.”

“Huh,” she said, mulling over what she’d told her. 

She’d honestly had visions of her performing all kinds of sleazy acts of depravity and she wasn’t sure what to make of her calm, rational explanation of her professional choices.

“Are you disappointed in my white-bread ways?” she asked, with another twitch of her lips.

She giggled. “Don’t laugh at me. I just never thought about it before. I don’t blame you for being as careful as possible, though. You’re fortunate in that you’re able to choose only what you’re comfortable with.”

“Yes. In that, I know I’m fortunate.”

Something sober entered the mood between them with her comment, and they lay in silence for a few minutes.

Then she asked, “Have any of your clients ever fallen in love with you?”

Her face grew oddly still. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. I just wondered. You’re a really attractive woman who’s really good at sex. And you usually act out a romantic role, if I understand you correctly. It must be hard for some of your clients to separate fantasy from reality. That’s why I prefer it this way.” She gestured between their bodies to capture her point. “It keeps things clear.”

Cosima nodded slowly, not meeting her eyes. “Yes. Some of my clients have fallen in love with me. Or at least, in love with the fantasy I give them.”

“What do you do?”

“Nothing, unless they approach me outside of our professional engagements. If they do, I no longer do business with them.”

“Have you ever been stalked by clients who refused to end things?”

“Yes. Twice.”

Delphine sucked in a breath, although she could see how it might happen. “What did you do?”

“The first woman’s family stepped in and got her psychological care. The second woman was arrested when she tried to kill me.”

Gasping again, she sat up straight on the bed. “She tried to kill you?”

Cosima nodded, but her face was closed off, so she didn’t push for the rest of the story. Sometimes, over the last few months, she’d pushed too hard and Cosima had shut down and wouldn’t be genuine with her for the rest of the evening. She was careful now.

“Have you ever been arrested?” she asked, purposefully changing the subject.

“No.”

Delphine stared at her, almost disbelieving.

“I’m extremely careful,” she explained. “And now I only work through referrals. I do my research on all new clients before we discuss terms of any kind. When Delphine nodded, she lifted her eyebrows again. “Any more to this little inquisition?”

“Sorry,” she said, smiling ruefully. “I’m just nosy, and I don’t know anything about all this.”

“You don’t really need to know all the background for our engagements to be successful.”

“Well,” Delphine said, sticking out her chin at her cool, lofty tone. “I want to know.”

Cosima's lip twitched.

She scowled at her, although she wasn’t genuinely annoyed with her obvious amusement. She really was irresistible when she repressed a smile that way. She only occasionally showed her the practiced smile anymore—the sensual, urbane one she despised.

Her eyes drifted down to take in her breasts, lingering on the tight muscles of her belly. Her boxers were riding low on her lean hips, and she found the waistband strangely tempting.

Randomly, she wondered what she’d do if she just yanked her boxers down without warning. She was hit with the overwhelming urge to do so.

She resisted. Such a gesture seemed too presumptuous and intimate for the nature of their relationship. It wasn’t like they were a couple where such a playful, teasing act would be natural.

When her eyes drifted back up to her face, she caught her eyes lower on her own body than her face. Had Cosima been leering at her the way she’d been leering at her? Her eyes adjusted quickly, focusing on her face with a casual smile. But she felt weirdly self-conscious and glanced down at herself. Her beautiful silk gown was wrinkled and disarranged. Her breasts were okay, but the clingy gown didn’t give her as much support as a bra would have. Her belly and waist were trim, but her hips were curvier than she’d like.

It was nice to think she’d been admiring her gorgeousness but she wasn’t entirely convinced.

All of these reflections were giving her definite ideas, however. She rolled over to glance at the clock and was relieved to see that it wasn’t even ten yet.  
They had a lot of time. She’d already had three amazing orgasms this evening, and she had this gorgeous, talented woman at her disposal for two more hours. Plenty of time for more.

She grinned at Cosima, feeling remarkably pleased with herself.

Cosima chuckled. “Why do I suddenly feel like a piece of meat?”

Delphine laughed too and spontaneously rolled on top of her, loving the feel of her hard, lean body beneath her. They were both grinning now, and their gazes met and lingered.

Something warm filled her chest as they smiled at each other, and she leaned down unconsciously before she jerked to a stop with a gasp.

Delphine wasn’t entirely positive, but she might have just almost kissed her. Without having any intention of doing so.

It was inevitable, she supposed. The lines in a relationship like theirs were bound to get a little blurred. In general, she was doing a good job keeping things in perspective. One near slip-up wasn’t the end of the world, so she wouldn’t let it bother her.

But her heart was pounding painfully as she stared down at Cosima. Her lips were parted slightly and the expression in her dark green eyes transformed from warm to deep to a little confused.

Distracted by the memory of what she’d said the minute before, she frowned and asked, “I don’t really make you feel like a piece of meat, do I?” She still occasionally suffered from lingering guilt over participating in prostitution, even in a context such as this. And she really didn’t want to objectify Cosima more than her profession would necessitate.

Her eyebrows drew together and the smile faded from her lips. “No. You don’t.”

“Good.” It only took her a minute to recover her bright mood and excitement. She grinned down at her again and stroked her chest with her palms. She straddled her hips and spent a few minutes exploring her body and trying to figure out what kind of caresses pleased a woman the most.

Despite the number of times she and Cosima had had sex, she’d generally done more receiving than giving.

After a few minutes of stroking and fondling—and a few experimental kisses on her breasts and abdomen—she could feel Cosima tighten beneath her. The muscles of her belly and thighs had visibly tensed. She felt a strange thrill of power at the ability to cause such a response in a woman as cool and composed as Cosima.

She was letting her do this. And she wasn’t close to out of control. But still...

She could see her erection growing under the slick fabric of her boxers. She was definitely turning her on.

Unless she was just doing her mental thing and trying to affirm her self-confidence.

She frowned at that thought. But as her hands lingered on her waistband with a silent question and she nodded mutely, she had trouble believing it was all an act. She was perspiring again and Cosima's body was palpably tense. When she gently pulled down her underwear, her cock was close to fully erect.

“May I?” she asked, clearing her throat when her voice broke. She’d never caressed her intimately before. She always wondered if that was off-limits unless she paid for a blow job.

Cosima nodded again, something quiet and intense in her gaze. Her eyes had been focused on her face, but they lowered to where her hands wrapped around her erection.

Cosima sucked in a sharp breath as she felt and squeezed her firm, warm shaft. She hardened even more beneath her touch.

Her subtle responses were turning her on with remarkable speed. She shifted a little, uncomfortably aroused despite the sex she’d had not long before.

She fondled and explored her shaft and balls for several minutes, until she was almost squirming with arousal and Cosima was having trouble lying still. She kept adjusting slightly, moving her hips or her arms. Her body had clenched up like a fist, but she hadn’t spoken. And she hadn’t pulled away.

“Ready?” she asked when she moved her hands away, letting her cock rest on her lower belly. Her voice was thick.

“Yeah.”

Cosima sat up and eased her down onto her back. 

“Foreplay?” she asked, smoothly pushing slippery Chinese silk up past her thighs and hips.

She shook her head against the pillow. “That was enough for me. You can fuck me now.”

She stared down at her for a minute, and she couldn’t understand the intensity of her expression. Then she reached for another condom and the lube, and she didn’t let the question distract her from what was more urgent.

“You want to try a new position?” she asked, her voice more natural than it had been earlier as she took care of preliminaries.

“Sure. What did you have in mind?” She'd never guided her into an uncomfortable or demeaning position. Occasionally, she started out a little embarrassed, but she’d always grown to like each new position eventually.

Cosima adjusted onto her knees between her legs, parted her thighs even more, and lifted her hips slightly. Then she slowly slid inside her.

She felt her deeply in this position, and her legs felt a little loose and ungainly, hanging down on either side of her body. She was glad she was still wearing her gown because it felt like the excess flesh of her belly wouldn’t be displayed attractively. The penetration felt really good, though, and she liked how clearly she could see Cosima's body and expression.

She breathed deeply and relaxed the way Cosima had taught her, and she felt spiraling pleasure on the first thrust.

Cosima started slow, taking her time. She tried to move with her, although she had more control over her pelvis than she did. After several pleasing minutes, she finally felt a climax coalescing at her center. Her motion grew a little jerkier and she stretched her arms out spread-eagle, fisting her fingers.

“How is it?” Cosima asked, his voice thick again.

“Good,” she mumbled, tossing her head a little. "Gonna come.”

Her rhythm sped up some, her hips working ceaselessly between her thighs. Her expression was tight, almost rigid, and her eyes never left her face.

The pleasure grew and Delphine's motion became more clumsy and frantic, her hands fumbling desperately for purchase on the bed and her head and hips moving restlessly. After a few more minutes, she came, with a smothered whimper and a dramatic arch of her back.

Cosima sucked in an audible breath as her muscles clamped down on her cock, but her rhythm didn’t falter. She kept thrusting through the contractions and continued after her body had softened. Then she moved a hand down toward where they were joined so she could rub her clit.

As the minutes passed and she fucked her with a steady, pleasurable rhythm, Delphine's body kept responding with shameless eagerness. She came again. And then again. And then again. She didn’t feel like screaming this time, but kind of swallowed over each cry of release.

Eventually, her body was drenched in sweat and aching with exhaustion, but she still wanted more. She was overwhelmed by a deep craving for Cosima, for her body and the pleasure she was giving her. She showed no signs of faltering or losing her control. She was sweating too—streams of perspiration running down the sides of her face and the middle of her chest. She was still clenched as tight as a fist.

But her eyes were unwavering, fixed on her face, and the motion of her hips was ceaseless.

“Mon Dieu,” she gasped after her fourth orgasm. Her body squirmed desperately but Cosima held her hips firmly with one strong hand. “You’re killing me.”

“Too much?” she rasped, the words seeming to stick in her throat. She was still massaging her clit and the bit of flesh was so sensitive now it was almost painful.

“No. Wanna come again.” Her body was starting to shake as another climax tightened in response to the stimulation. “Faster. Please.”

Cosima intensified her thrusting and the pleasure swelled up and burst open. She made involuntary sobbing sounds as she came once more, even though she tried to bite her lip over the helpless noise.

With a breathless huff, Cosima shifted positions suddenly, leaning forward and bracing her arms on either side of her. The shift changed the angle of penetration, and Delphine's clit was finally freed of the massage. But now all she could feel was Cosima above her—heat from her shaking body overwhelming her, drowning her.

She usually looked so cool and polished. How could she possibly generate so much heat?

She was still holding onto the threads of her control, but she didn’t want her to anymore. “You come now,” she said weakly, her arms reaching up to hold onto her neck.

She inclined her head, maybe a nod, maybe just a random twitch of her neck. Her mouth was so tight now her lips were white, and sweat from her body was smearing onto her. She fell out of rhythm, pumping into her hard and fast.

She thought she would just enjoy watching her come, but the shaking of their bodies and the way her cock drove inside her pushed her into climax once more.

“Oh God,” she gasped, clawing at her neck and shoulders. She couldn’t stop, even though she knew she was leaving angry scratches on her skin.

Cosima grunted, and she read it as a question.

“Coming again.” Her body tightened up and she tried to breathe as she’d taught her to. She couldn’t even begin to take a full breath.

She managed to wrap her legs around her, squeezing her with her arms and her legs. Her orgasm was on the edge of cresting, and Cosima's hot, shuddering, urgent body felt delicious against hers.

She cried out breathlessly as the tension broke inside her, and Cosima let go at the same time. As she rode out the waves of pleasure, she was conscious of Cosima releasing a loud, guttural sound, just at her ear. Her hips jerked and her body seemed to pulse as her own climax ripped through her.

She collapsed back onto the bed with Cosima on top of her. She was soaked with sweat and shaky with fatigue and an overload of sensation. Her eyes, throat, and lungs burned, and she was sore from her cock and the stretching of her stomach muscles.

Her intimate flesh felt swollen, and still throbbed with achy pleasure.

“Oh God,” she gasped. She stroked the skin she’d scratched on Cosima's neck, shoulders, and back. “Oh God.”

Cosima grunted, breathing damply and very fast against the crook of her neck.

“Oh God, that was good,” she said. Her body was still radiating heat but it had softened lusciously with the release of so much tension. When Cosima didn’t answer, she added, “You all right?”

“Yes.” She straightened her arms, pulling herself off of her. Then she held the condom in place as she pulled her cock out with a slurping sound. “I’ll be right back.”

Once again, she went to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. And once again, she heard the water running and thought she was gone longer than usual.

When she finally came back, she didn’t get back into bed. She was a little disappointed, since they still had more than a half-hour left of the evening. Not that she could take any more sex tonight, but she always enjoyed their chats afterward.

She knew Cosima well enough by now to know that she was ready to leave. Not that she’d ever say so. She had paid until midnight. But she understood the question in her eyes as she stood looking down at her.

She was actually a little hurt. She’d had amazing sex—mind-blowing sex—and now she couldn’t wait to get away from her.

Maybe Cosima was tired, though. Maybe she’d had a bad day. She liked and respected her too much to make her stay just because she technically had another half-hour of bought time.

With a smile, she said, “You can take a shower if you want. I’ve had all I can handle tonight.”

She thanked her and retreated to the bathroom with her clothes.

Delphine sighed and told herself to be reasonable. There was no reason to have her feelings hurt. This was business to her. While she was convinced she’d enjoyed the sex, there was no reason for Cosima to linger afterwards, just because she felt like reflecting on how good it had been.

By the time she came out again—cool, composed and fully dressed—she felt good again. She’d had two rounds of amazing sex and quite a few powerful orgasms. She definitely needed a shower to cool off and wash up, but after that she’d be able to enjoy the aftermath of her climaxes and have a long night’s sleep in a cozy bed.

And tomorrow was Saturday. She could get settled again at home and hang out with Celine.

Plus she had a lunch date on Wednesday and another date next Saturday with a handsome, eligible man. The fundraiser should be fun—with a lot of affluent, important people to mingle with and have fun taunting. She’d have to go shopping with Celine to find herself a new, sexy dress. Aldous really was gorgeous. With all the practice and experience she’d had recently, she wouldn’t even be self-conscious or scared about sex, so there was finally the potential to get serious about a someone.

She had nothing to complain about.

When she got out of bed, she stumbled at a jolt of sharp pain between her legs.

“All right?” Cosima asked, eyeing her with concern.

“Sore,” she admitted. “We had a lot of sex this evening.”

She chuckled, and she was relieved to see she looked relaxed again. “We did.”

“It was really good,” she told her, sliding the envelope of money over to her. “I’m not sure what got into me.”

Her gaze was careful and observant, although she still smiled as she slipped the cash into her pocket uncounted. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I was...was like an animal.” She blushed as she thought about her shamelessness. “I hope I didn’t scratch you too much.”

“You didn’t.” One corner of her mouth quirked up. “I think the animal suits you well.”

Her comment was clever and flippant, but it made her blush again. This time from pleasure.

“So we’re on for a week from Monday?”

“Yes,” she said as she packed up her case. “I have you scheduled.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it.” She walked her to the door and leaned against it as she left the room. "Have a good week.”

“You too.”

As Delphine watched Cosima walk down the hall toward the elevator, she had to ask herself what she was more looking forward to: her first date with an eligible man she could possibly have a future with or her next engagement with Cosima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know about mistakes. Shout out to those who always leave comments, I really appreciate you.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a (late) Valentine's Day gift. Also my favourite chapter so far. Have a great time ;)

I’m telling you,” Delphine insisted, trying so hard not to laugh she almost slopped her champagne. “He wasn’t leering at my cleavage.”

Aldous Leekie—lean, dark, sexy, and rugged with his five o’clock shadow and deeply tanned face—gave her a rakish grin. “Deny it all you want. I know where his eyes were lingering. And it wasn’t on your necklace. And he perked up even more when I told him you wrote sexy romances under a penname.”

Delphine moved an unconscious hand to her jade pendant on a gold chain she’d paired with her deep green evening gown. “Aldous, he’s about a hundred years old! And the chair of the museum board!”

“Even prestigious museum boards boast pervy old men,” Aldous murmured, moving an arm around her waist as they strolled out of the elegant ballroom, clustered with well-dressed, affluent guests, and into the wide hallway that led to rooms with the artwork being showcased tonight. “He was definitely sneaking a peak at your cleavage. And, since you chose to wear that dress, I can hardly be surprised.”

Sniffing disdainfully, Delphine gave him a pseudo-cool look. She and Aldous had gone to lunch a few days ago and had a great time. So far their date to the museum fundraiser was a success as well. Aldous was smart, funny, and handsome, and she liked his blunt manner and quick humor. She even liked his books. “This dress shows only a perfectly respectable amount of cleavage.”

Aldous’ eyes lingered obviously at the deep crease and shadow at the neckline of her gown. While it wasn’t so revealing as to be crude, the dress was sexier than anything she’d ever owned before. He lifted his eyebrows and drawled, “Yeah.”

She chuckled and came to a stop in the middle of the hallway, next to a huge mirror with an elaborate, gilded frame. A quick glance in the mirror showed her to be looking quite nice this evening, with upswept hair and more makeup than she usually wore. She twisted her neck slightly to make sure there was no longer any hint of a bruise from where Cosima had bit her the week before.

She was a little surprised that Cosima hadn’t asked permission before she’d marked her, but she hadn’t minded the bruise, really. It evoked very pleasurable memories. She was glad it had faded in time for this evening, though. 

She slanted a teasing look over at Aldous. “Obviously, elderly chairmen of museum boards don’t hold exclusive rights to perviness.”

Aldous took a step closer to her. “Who exactly did you have in mind?”

Feeling a little thrill of excitement at his obvious attraction, Delphine took a step back. “I had in mind a certain younger, smug scientist who has recently taken a turn at being a writer.”

With a low laugh, Aldous pushed her gently against the wall in the hallway. Most of the guests were still in the ballroom, where the welcoming address had just been made. “Guilty as charged,” he said in a gruff voice.

Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her.  
Delphine didn’t have much experience, but she suspected that Aldous was a very good kisser. His mouth moved with ease and confidence against hers as he gently licked the line of her lips.

He’d kissed her very briefly after their lunch date on Wednesday, but this kiss quickly became something else. She opened for him unconsciously and wrapped her arms around his neck while he pressed the hard line of his body against hers.

They kissed for longer and deeper than was probably wise in the middle of a hall at a stuffy museum fundraiser. While Delphine didn’t feel any urgent sexual desire, she was jittery and breathless when she heard voices at the other end of the hall and pulled away.

An older man and woman promenaded through the hall, giving the flushed couple still entwined against the wall a very disapproving look.

Delphine stifled a giggle and shared a guilty look with Aldous, who still had one hand at her waist and the other cupping the back of her head.

Then her eyes drifted toward the ballroom again, to see who else had spotted her in such a disgraceful position.

Her giggle died a sudden death.

Cosima stood about halfway down the hall, frozen in place, staring at her with a blank intensity that took her breath away. She held two glasses of champagne in her hands, but her eyes were fixed on her face.

Delphine froze too, feeling like a weight of shock and disorientation had slammed into her from above. She’d done a really good job of compartmentalizing her sessions with Cosima—allowing them to have nothing to do with the rest of her life, enjoying them as one would a harmless indulgence.

But the barriers between her interactions with her and the rest of her life had been abruptly, brutally ripped away.

She was on a date with Aldous. A good date. Something she hadn’t experienced in a really long time. And she had fucked Cosima exactly a week ago in a plush hotel room. Fucked her twice. She’d made her come over and over again. She had paid her at the end of the night.

And both of them were now in the same hallway.  
Her cheeks burned so hotly she knew her skin had flamed. She shifted restlessly until Aldous dropped his arms and stepped back. He was looking over at Cosima curiously. “A friend of yours?”

Delphine had absolutely no idea what to say.  
She was saved from answering by the arrival of the woman who must be Cosima’s date for the evening. Delphine had met Shay Davydov few times in the past. They weren’t friends but they had done some work together in New York for a national charity that raised money for local literacy programs.

Shay was in her mid-thirties and had recently gotten divorced from a New York business mogul. She must be visiting Toronto this weekend.

She’d obviously found a painless way of getting a date for the fundraiser.

“Helena,” Sarah said, hurrying over to take Cosima’s arms. “Sorry. I got waylaid by Amelia Bernard.” She glanced over toward Delphine and Aldous. “Delphine! How nice to see you again. I saw you earlier across the room, but couldn’t say hi.”

Delphine steeled herself, took Aldous’ hand, and led him over to the other couple. “Hi, Shay. Getting bored with New York?”

Shay flashed a dimple. “Actually, just trying to annoy the ex by maintaining the position on the museum board that he pulled strings for me to get. He thought I would just slink away after the divorce. Silly man. This is my date. Helena Manning.”

Delphine shook hands with the woman she knew as Cosima Niehaus. She supposed she probably used whatever name her date wanted her to use when she escorted a woman to a social event. “Delphine Cormier. This is Aldous Leekie.”

Although Cosima had obviously been taken by surprise at the sight of her tonight, she’d recovered with remarkable composure. Her expression was cool and neutral as she shook hands with Aldous and they made some innocuous small talk.

Delphine was relieved that her voice was natural and friendly, although she was horribly distracted by the way Cosima kept her arm around Shay’s waist, her fingers occasionally giving a little caress.

Finally, Shay said, “I guess we should go check out some of that art.” She smiled besottedly up at Cosima. “You’ll have to explain it to me, I’m afraid.”

“I’ll be happy to,” she murmured, her eyes resting on Shay’s face in such a way that Delphine could have sworn she was in love with the woman. Then, in a voice she could barely hear, she added to Shay, “Although no piece of art on the wall could be as exquisite as you.”

Delphine almost gagged.

She was doing her job. Playing a part. This was what her services entailed. Acting the romantic escort, making a woman feel like she was the most important person in the world, whether or not the evening ended with sex.

She managed to mumble out a farewell as Shay and Cosima walked on. She’d known—she’d known—that this was what Cosima did. She was a escort. Among other things, she fucked women for money. She was hardly her only client. She had a very busy schedule.  
It was just that knowing was different than seeing.

“Ex-girlfriend?” Aldous asked, studying her face.

Delphine couldn’t possibly tell him the truth—not on a second date—so she accepted this as the easiest of excuses for her reaction. “Yeah. Something like that.”

“Maybe you’ll tell me about him sometime,” Aldous murmured, slipping his hand around her waist as they strolled more slowly toward the galleries.  
She shot him a sharp look.

“I’m not blind, you know,” he explained, giving her a little smile. “You could cut the intensity between the two of you with a knife. But there’s no hurry. We have lots of time.”

Her smile up at him was genuine—made up of relief and affection. What a great guy he was. “Maybe I’ll tell you sometime.”

She thought she’d gotten over the worst of the hurdles in her initial encounter with Cosima. But she kept seeing her and Shay for the rest of the evening. And Cosima always seemed to be whispering intimately into her ear, or stroking her back, or discreetly holding her hand.

And the truth was it bugged Delphine. A lot. However irrational, her encounters with Cosima had felt isolated, cocooned, cut off from the rest of the world. They’d been special to her. Not because she thought they shared romance or a real emotional connection. But because she’d learned so much about herself and about human nature from her interactions with her. Plus, she’d just simply enjoyed it.

And seeing her at her job with another woman made the whole thing feel...tawdry.

Maybe it was.

***

Two days later, Delphine arrived at the familiar hotel room a little later than normal. She had just enough time to bathe, shave, apply lotion, and dress before seven o’clock.

She’d seriously considered canceling. All day yesterday, she’d begun to compose an apologetic email to Cosima, saying she didn’t need her services anymore. She just wasn’t sure she could continue as they had, after being slapped in the face with reality on Saturday night.

Plus, Aldous had asked her out again. Obviously, things were just at the beginning—casual and non-exclusive—but she felt like they had some potential and paying for sex on the side seemed like it might not be the best way to begin a relationship.

Delphine had finally decided to keep her engagement with Cosima, mostly because she felt bad about backing out at the last minute. She genuinely liked Cosima, and it felt kind of heartless to blow her off with an email, after they’d had such a long-standing professional relationship. She’d give it a try. If things felt weird or uncomfortable, she just wouldn’t schedule another appointment.

She was just putting on the little cashmere cardigan—a weave so fine it was almost transparent—over her dark blue silk lounge set when she heard the knock at the door.

As she swung open the door with a smile of greeting, she was greeted to a sight that was like a kick in the gut.

Cosima stood—as cool and beautiful as always in all black. On her face was a practiced smile. Urbane and sensual and so fake Delphine wanted to scratch it from her skin.

Definitely not a propitious beginning.

“Hi,” she said, stepping aside to let her into the room.

Cosima murmured a greeting, and she followed her to the table where she always left her case. The ubiquitous envelope of cash was lying on the table as usual.

Feeling more awkward than she had since the first couple of engagements, Delphine lowered herself into a chair. Figuring they might as well get it out in the open, she said, “So it was kind of weird, huh?”  
Cosima seated herself in the other chair and arched her eyebrows at her coolly. Delphine wasn’t a big fan of that expression either.

“Seeing each other on Saturday,” she said in response to her silent question. “Wasn’t it kind of weird?”

“I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable. You handled it fine.”

Delphine’s jaw dropped slightly as she stared at Cosima. She hadn’t thought the discomfort had only been on her side. She was definitely acting prickly tonight. Not at all like her normal self. “You didn’t find it a little weird too?”

Cosima’s eyes were bland and unrevealing. “No. Not really. But I’ve had years of experience in this. I can understand why it might be awkward for you. In fact, I wondered if you might cancel our engagement tonight.”

She swallowed, knowing how close she’d come to doing just that. It was a little unnerving to learn that their encounter at the fundraiser hadn’t bothered Cosima at all. She knew it had surprised her. Her expression had revealed at least that, but apparently it hadn’t affected her otherwise.

She was determined to not pretend anything, not add any other layer of unnaturalness to her relationship with Cosima. “I thought about it. A lot. It just seemed kind of...I don’t know. It would have made me feel shitty.”

Cosima cocked one eyebrow, looking slightly amused, albeit not in a warm way. “Why would you feel shitty? About my losing a client?”

She shifted uncomfortably, wishing Cosima wasn’t being so cool and standoffish tonight. If she would just be herself, they could have gotten through this with less awkwardness. “No. I mean, not really. But we’ve been doing this for a while now. And it seemed kind of rude to just cancel your services over email.” She stared down at her hands. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to cancel my services now? Face to face?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t know.” Tired of feeling like a fool, she raised her eyes and scowled at Cosima. “You don’t have to be snotty about it, anyway. It’s not that strange. I feel bad if I have to find a new hairdresser.”

Cosima met her eyes evenly. “I believe you. But if you have someone at home who can do your hair to your satisfaction, you have no reason to pay a professional.”

Delphine felt a little flicker of amusement at the way she’d stretched the analogy, but she understood what she was saying. “Yeah. I guess so. That’s not the case with me. Not yet, anyway.”

“So you haven’t yet had the chance to practice your new experience?” Despite the smooth, indirect question, for the first time she saw something other than coolness in her eyes. “I had assumed, from what I saw—”

“It was a first date,” she explained. “A second date, actually. Obviously, if things become more serious, I’ll have to...to discontinue our engagements.”

“Of course.”

“It’s nothing personal. You know how much I respect you and your...your talents. It’s just that...”

“There’s no need for an explanation, Delphine. We have a business arrangement, and it can be terminated at any time. I hadn’t expected you to be a long-term client anyway.”

She sucked in a breath, feeling oddly insulted by her impersonal words. “What does that mean?”

“It wasn’t an insult. I just meant that, of course, you would like to move on to a permanent relationship with someone you could love.”

Her words were true. She wanted a healthy, committed relationship with someone she loved and who loved her. But something about the way Cosima had worded her comment caused her belly to twist. 

“Oh. Yeah.”

Cosima was silent for a minute, sitting perfectly still in her chair. Then she cleared her throat. “Did you want to proceed with our engagement tonight?”  
She stared at her, wondering what had happened, why she had turned into this poised, detached stranger instead of the Cosima she’d known for the last few months. She’d never been emotional or open or vulnerable, but she’d seemed real. In a way she didn’t tonight.

“Well?” Cosima prompted, raising her eyebrows again. “I would have guessed you weren’t in the mood, but maybe my charms are simply too irresistible.”

Then she smiled at her. That smile Delphine couldn’t stand.

“What’s wrong with you?” she snarled, nearly snapping her teeth with frustration.

Cosima blinked, the smile fading abruptly. “Excuse me?”

“Why are you acting this way tonight? Totally fake.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Delphine. We were having a conversation. Obviously, I behave differently when I talk than I do when I provide other servic—”

“Don’t give me that crap. That’s not what I’m talking about. You’re not acting like yourself. You’re all cold and...and fake.”

“I am myself. This is me.” She met her eyes with a look that was almost a challenge.

“No, it’s not. I mean, this isn’t how you’ve been with me before. And I don’t like it.” She stuck out her chin and glared at her, wishing she’d just break down and get mad at her like a normal person.

“My apologies.” She stood up and picked up her case. “In that case, I’ll just—”

Delphine stood up too with a gasp. “I didn’t say you should go. I just wanted you to act like yourself again.”

Cosima shook her head and started to walk toward the door, still perfectly polite, perfectly cool. “Obviously, this isn’t what you want anymore. I think it’s best if we just call it off. I wish you the best.”

And then the bastard just walked out the door.

Delphine had been expecting an argument. She’d actually kind of wanted an argument—since then at least Cosima would have been genuine. She certainly hadn’t expected her to just leave.  
She suddenly realized that she didn’t want her to leave. She wasn’t ready for this to end yet.

She went after her, catching hherim just as she stepped onto the elevator. She made it onto the elevator too before the doors slid shut.

“Why are you leaving?” she demanded, glaring at her heatedly. “You’re acting like a jerk. We were having a conversation. There’s no reason for you to walk out on me.”

She lifted the eyebrows again. “The conversation was going nowhere. I understand that you feel uncomfortable about seeing me when you were with your boyfriend Saturday night. It’s perfectly natural. And you needn’t feel any guilt about discontinuing my services.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she snapped, beginning with the most irrelevant of her objections. “And none of that is the point. You’re not acting like yourself. That’s all I wanted.”

“Delphine, you’re presuming too much.” She wasn’t looking at her now. She’d pressed the button for the ground floor and was staring at the numbers light up as the elevator started to descend. Her voice was still cool and controlled, but her jaw and shoulders had tensed. “We’ve never had a personal relationship.”

“I’m not saying we did!” Her voice was loud, and she wished she would just get angry, show some real emotion instead of the impersonal mask she put on. “I know it was professional. But I thought we ...we worked well together. And I told you I didn’t want to pretend anything, so I thought you were...were basically being yourself when we talked.”

“You presume too much.” Her eyes never left the lit numbers, but she noticed that her hand was clenched around the handle of her case.

“Stop saying that,” she bit out. The hotel was built in the forties, and the elevator was one of the old fashioned ones with a thick brass rail running across the middle of the walls and an emergency stop that didn’t require a key. Afraid the elevator would reach the bottom before they could finish this conversation, Delphine pulled the emergency stop button, relieved when no alarm went off. “I’m not making this up. I’m not imagining things. I know how you normally act with me, and I know that’s not how you’re acting now. What the hell is wrong with you? Did I offend you somehow?”

“You didn’t offend me.” She reached for the emergency stop, but Delphine planted herself in front of her to keep her from starting the elevator up again.

“Well, then why are you acting like you’re mad?” she demanded.

“I’m not mad.” Her expression was still controlled, but a little muscle was twitching on one side of her jaw and her voice sounded slightly impatient. “Delphine, can you please get out of the way?”

“No.” She was starting to understand now. She was mad. This coolness must be some sort of instinctive cover to mask her real feelings. She had no idea why she would be angry with her, however, and the idea really bothered her. “If I offended you in some way, I’d like to know how. I never wanted to. I’ve always tried to...to be nice.”

Finally, she met her eyes again. “Delphine, you don’t have to be nice. You pay me for my services.”

She almost sputtered in outrage. “What the hell does that mean? Of course, I have to be nice. You’re a human being, aren’t you? What the fuck did your father do to you to make you think you don’t deserve to be treated with dignity and humanity?”

She hadn’t really meant to voice that last question. Her volatile feelings and confusion got the best of her. But she had voiced it. Almost spit it out in her face.

It finally broke the iron control Cosima had been using to rein in her feelings.

She turned on her abruptly, stepping forward, pressing Delphine’s back against the wall with her intense presence rather than force. “Delphine,” she began, her voice thick and low. She planted one hand on the wall next to her head. “I fuck you. You pay me. That’s our arrangement. That doesn’t entitle you to invade my privacy, demand to see the ‘real me,’ or pry into whatever motivations I might have for doing what I do.”

She gulped. She’d never seen her like this before. Her eyes held hers imprisoned. She was almost pulsing with some sort of intense emotion, and the force of it left her trembling and boneless. “I didn’t mean ...” She had to start over when her voice cracked. “I didn’t mean I wanted you to spill your guts. I just didn’t want you to act so hard and cold. You’re mad at me, and I don’t know why.”

“I’m not mad,” she said again, although her entire body belied her words. She was coiled so tightly she was practically shuddering. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes had ignited.

Absurdly, Delphine felt her body respond. She knew it was entirely inappropriate. They were in the middle of a very bizarre argument, and sex should be the last thing on her mind. But she looked so intense, almost passionate. For once, she seemed to be expressing something real—with her body language if not with her words.

Her inner muscles clenched, and she felt her nipples tighten. Hoped it wasn’t visible through the slinky silk of her camisole.

“You’re sure acting mad,” she snapped back. “You look like you want to rip my head off.”

“Delphine.” Her voice was even thicker than before, and it ridiculously made her think about sex. She leaned her face toward her and gritted out against her ear, “Delphine, give this up. If you want to keep our appointment, we can go back upstairs. But my private thoughts are none of your concern.”

She shuddered. She wasn’t even touching her, but she felt her all over her skin. Blazing with heat and desire, she still managed to hold up her end of the argument. “I told you I don’t want you to spill your guts. Keep your private thoughts to yourself. Just tell me how I made you mad.”

“For the fourth time,” Cosima rasped, still speaking into her ear. “I’m not mad.”

She shifted restlessly against the wall, dying for some sort of friction against her skin. Her squirming caused her to brush up against Cosima.

She felt something. Something that shocked her so much her mouth fell open. Her lower belly had brushed against the front of Cosima’s trousers.  
She was hard.

She must have seen her reaction. She must know that she knew she was aroused. She didn’t acknowledge it in any way, though. She’d pulled back enough to look her in the eye and ask hoarsely, “Tell me why you’ve continued to schedule engagements with me.”

She was too confused and overwhelmed and turned-on and shaky to even begin to make up a lie. So she gasped out the truth. “Because I like having sex with you.”

She nodded, as if she’d known she would say that. “So why do you keep making this more complicated than it is?”

A home question. Delphine had no answer for her.  
Her hand was still planted next to her head, trapping her against the wall. She was hard. Aroused. As aroused as she was.

Unable to hold herself back any longer, she reached out and grabbed her by the hips. Pressed her pelvis against her. Rubbed herself against the bulge she felt and almost moaned at the resulting sensations.  
Then she realized how shamelessly she’d groped her, when it wasn’t clear they were in the midst of one of their sessions, and she dropped her hands abruptly with a gasp. “Sorry!”

Cosima put down her case, which she’d been holding in one hand all along. Then she planted her second hand on the wall on the other side of her head. “Delphine?”

“I didn’t mean ...” she began, her cheeks blazing. “I mean, if you didn’t want to keep the appointment tonight, I shouldn’t have—”

“We can keep the appointment,” she rasped, her eyes raking over her face. “Do you want to do this here? In the elevator. In between floors ten and eleven in an expensive, old-fashioned Toronto hotel?”

“Yes,” she breathed, arching against the wall so she could rub her aching nipples against her breasts.  
Without another word, she buried her face in her neck, mouthing and nibbling and kissing in an urgent pattern she couldn’t begin to follow. Her arms went around her, pressing her body tightly against hers. Then she began to make small, rhythm thrusts, rocking her erection against her middle.

She knew she was really turned on. She couldn’t possibly have done any sort of mental thing to get herself ready, since she’d assumed they wouldn’t be having sex today.

She must be aroused by her. Genuinely aroused. By her. Delphine. The knowledge sent a wild thrill up her spine that intensified her body’s sensations.  
She moaned in her arms, grabbing at her back, trying to yank her shirttails out from her trousers. Before she could get very far, Cosima had bent down farther, mouthing one breast and then the other through the silk of her camisole.

As she suckled, one of her hands dipped in at her waistband and slid down between her legs. She bit down on her lower lip as she felt her fingers stroke her intimate flesh.

She would feel how wet and aroused she already was. As aroused as she was.

Without waiting for her permission, Cosima freed her hand from between her thighs and then, with one smooth move, pulled her silk lounge pants down over her hips. As she did so, she fumbled with her belt and the zipper.

They were in a public elevator. For the moment, it was stopped, but they both knew they had no time to dally.

Cosima straightened up and released her for just long enough to pull a condom packet out of her case. Once she’d rolled it on, she cupped her bottom with both hands and heaved her up so she was propped on the brass railing that spanned the middle of the elevator walls.

It wasn’t much support, but Cosima used her body to hold her in place. She spread her legs and sank into her, pushing her back against the wall on her initial in-stroke.

For the first time, she hadn’t used any lubricant. She hadn’t needed any.

Delphine gasped in pleasure as she penetrated her, the full substance of her cock filling her completely. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around her waist to brace herself more securely, and she clung desperately to her shoulders.

“Fast,” she said on a taken breath, tossing her head restlessly against the wall as her body screamed for friction. “Hard. Please.”

She began to thrust, her motion limited by their precarious position. Her hips pumped against flesh, her cock pushing into her slippery passage with the urgent speed and force she needed to feel.

“So good,” she breathed, the words barely audible. She squeezed her with her thighs and with her intimate muscles. “So good,” she breathed again, on every one of her drives inside her.

Cosima had bent her neck to bury her face against the side of her throat again. She felt her hot breath on her skin. Her lips and tongue and teeth. She moved her mouth along her neck, shoulder, and up to her jaw.

Her mouth was so close to hers now that all it would take was a slight shift of her neck for them to kiss.  
They didn’t kiss though. Cosima’s thrusts grew shorter and faster, and Delphine dug her fingers into the skin beneath her collar. Her position wasn’t entirely comfortable but everything felt so incredibly good. She didn’t think she would come. She hadn’t had enough clitoral stimulation. But she didn’t even care.

Something about the intensity of their coupling felt as good as any orgasm she’d ever experienced.

Cosima’s pelvis pistoned against her, and she shifted her neck again so her mouth was almost at her ear. Their cheeks were almost pressed together. Her was as hot as hers felt. “Delphine,” she rasped.

She didn’t know if it was a question or an expression of pleasure. She answered instinctively. “It feels so good. You come,” she panted. “I want you to come.”  
Her breathing accelerated even more as her whole body started to shake. She’d never experienced anything like it. All the shuddering angst that she’d been trying to stifle earlier seemed on the verge of imploding in her arms.

Her eyes blurred over and her nerve endings buzzed with pleasure. She wasn’t working up toward any climax, but the whole thing felt like one long high.

Cosima arched her neck forward again, lowering her mouth once more to the crook of her neck. Delphine cried out loudly when she felt her teeth bite down into her flesh. Then her whole body pulsed and jerked as she came with an extended guttural sound.

They held the position for a few moments as her body slowly started to soften. Delphine’s legs felt stiff and her feet were losing circulation, but she didn’t want to unwrap her legs. Cosima hadn’t yet lifted her head. She just kept panting against her skin.

And then a scratchy voice sounded in the quiet elevator without warning. “The emergency stop was pulled. Is everything all right?”

Delphine nearly jumped in astonishment, and Cosima pulled back, gently extricating herself from Delphine’s legs and pulling her cock out of her while taking care with the condom. When she’d set her back on the floor and Delphine’d started to pull on her pants, she found the call button and spoke into the speaker. “Everything is fine.”

She pulled the emergency stop, and the elevator jerked into motion. They got off on the ninth floor so they wouldn’t have to face security or maintenance or whomever was probably waiting for the elevator on the ground floor. Instead, they took the second elevator back up to Delphine’s room.

There, they got into bed and Cosima attended to Delphine with slow, leisurely foreplay. She brought her to climax with her hand three times before she put on another condom and entered her again.

She rested most of her weight on her and taught her how, if she slid upward slightly and they made a gentle, rocking motion, they could stimulate her clit with the base of her cock. After the urgency of their fuck in the elevator, both of them could go slow, and Delphine found the new position deeply enjoyable.

Their faces were close again, their cheeks brushing against each other. And the mingled texture of their breathing was the only sound besides the soft, rhythmic shaking of the bed.

Once again, she had to tell her to come, and she came just before she did, releasing a low moan as her hips rode out her orgasm.

When she got up to take care of the condom, she pulled up the covers, feeling chilly at her absence.

She reflected about how strange it was that she always waited for her permission before she came. She was always so in control.

Although she hadn’t really felt controlled in the elevator tonight.

She shifted restlessly under the covers, feeling a strange twisting of her belly. The comfortable professionalism of their encounters didn’t feel quite so comfortable anymore.

Cosima returned from the bathroom wearing her boxers and she went over to pour two glasses from the bottle of wine she’d ordered from room service.  
She handed her a glass and then she sat down in one of the chairs to sip hers.

She wondered if it was significant that she didn’t get back in bed with her.

“I never expected to do it in an elevator,” she said, mostly for something to say.

She gave her a half-smile. She didn’t look tense and coiled anymore. She looked drained. Kind of pale. And really tired. “We were lucky not to get caught. I’ll have to check with security to see if they have us on tape.”

Delphine gulped and covered her mouth with one hand.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

She wouldn’t be surprised if she had some sort of contact in every important hotel in Toronto. 

“Thanks.” She paused. And then found the courage to ask, “Are we...are we okay?”

Cosima smiled again. It wasn’t the smile she despised, but it wasn’t that irresistible twitching of her lips either. Her smile was slight and half-exhausted. “Yes. Of course.”

“I didn’t mean to pry into your privacy or anything,” she began, remembering what she’d said in the elevator. “I just—”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said again, with a dismissive gesture. “We’re fine.”

Things didn’t feel exactly fine to Delphine. There was an odd tension in the air between them that hadn’t existed before. She wasn’t sure if it was coming from her or from Cosima or from both of them. But she knew she wasn’t mistaken about it.

Searching for something casual to say, she rubbed the sore spot on her neck with one hand. “Now I’m probably going to have a bruise again,” she complained, making sure it was clear she was teasing. She craned her neck to see in one of the mirrors. “Thanks a lot.”

The corner of Cosima’s mouth quirked up. “Sorry about that.”

Her expression eased some of the discomfort in her chest. So she sustained the mood. “Don’t be. It was really hot. I wouldn’t have thought I’d like that.”

“A little pain can go a long way,” she said, in the voice she always used to give her advice or instructions.

“I guess so. I’m not sure I’d want much more than that, though,” she added honestly, mulling over memories of her own physical responses to stimulation. Following that train of thought, she asked idly, “I guess some people do though. Do you lose a lot of clients by only doing the romantic thing?” At her questioning look, she explained, “What we talked about last week—about not doing all the S&M stuff.”

“Oh,” she said with an enlightened look. She shook her head. “No. I don’t think I’ve lost any.”

Relieved to find a subject—however unusual—that felt more like their normal interaction, Delphine pursued it. “So it’s not all that popular?”

“It depends on what you mean by popular. There’s a small percentage of the population that’s into that lifestyle, but there’s a whole industry built around it. And, in general, those who participate in that lifestyle want to engage in the culture as a whole rather than using the occasional services of someone like me.”

“Huh.” Delphine thought about it for a minute. “If recent erotic romances are to be believed, most women are really into stuff like that.”

Cosima chuckled and shook her head. “But that’s the stuff of fantasies. Most women who get turned on reading about it wouldn’t actually want to live it out. It might turn them on in fantasies, but it wouldn’t in real life. Tell me the truth. What would you do if I tied you up, muzzled you, and started to whip you?”

Delphine thought about all the hot sex scenes she’d read featuring such activities. Then she honestly examined her own nature. She snickered. “I’d have you arrested for assault.”

She returned her smile. “Exactly. I know I’m making a generalization and everyone is unique and has their own needs, desires, and expressions of feeling. But, in my experience, the majority of women would still rather be genuinely loved than just fucked.”

For some reason, at her final words—as matter-of-fact as they were—she felt a stab of aching knowledge shoot through her heart.

She didn’t know about the rest of the women in the world, but for her at least her words were true. She would rather have a person she could love and who really loved her than just be fucked, no matter how skillful the person who was doing the fucking.

She didn’t regret her sessions with Cosima, but she finally had to admit to herself that they couldn’t last forever. Already, it was starting to feel a little strange to her—as if it wasn’t as impersonal and professional as it should be.

Now that she had a potential relationship with Aldous, was this thing with Cosima what she really wanted?

When she looked back at her, she saw she’d been studying her closely. “Shall we set another appointment?” she asked.

Put on the spot, Delphine was slammed with a wave of confusion. She had no idea what she wanted to do. “Um, I’m not sure what my schedule will be.” That was true. She didn’t know if Aldous would ask her out again. “Why don’t I email you and let you know?”

Cosima nodded, no expression on her face. “Sounds good.

She showered and dressed after that. And she gave her the cash and walked her to the door like usual. Their goodbye seemed to be more final than usual, and Delphine couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever see her again as she walked down the hall, away from her.

She felt weird. And disturbed. And upset. And kind of sad.

But she knew she needed to face reality. She couldn’t pursue a serious relationship and fuck a gigolo on the side. Maybe some people did it, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

If given the choice, she would rather have a someone to love than pay someone to fuck her.

***

Two days later, Delphine sent a long, rambling, apologetic email to Cosima, explaining she would no longer need her services. Aldous had asked her out again, and she was going to focus on that for the time being.

Cosima sent her a brief, impersonal reply, saying she’d enjoyed working with her and to keep her in mind for any referrals.

And that was it. Delphine inexplicable experiment with a escort had come to an end.

She had another date with Aldous on Friday night, so at least she could look forward to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any mistakes let me know. Thank you for the support.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see!
> 
> I love this chapter.

“Here’s to no more assholes,” Celine said, raising her half-drunk bottle of beer in an enthusiastic toast.

They were both slouched against the couch on the floor of Delphine's living room, an empty pizza box between them. “Here, here!” Delphine echoed, clinking her bottle loudly against her cousin’s.

Delphine was on her third beer. She was just starting to get a pleasant buzz, but she frowned as she took another swallow. “He was an asshole, wasn’t he?”

“Of course,” Celine said, picking the remaining cheese off the greasy cardboard and absently putting it in her mouth. “Don’t be stupid. Aldous Leekie may be a tiny bit hot, but he’s a world-class asshole and he needs to shave.”

“Right. I mean, we’d only gone out five times. It wasn’t like I was holding out on him indefinitely. I’m not some frigid bitch.”

“Of course not. He’s clearly the one with the problem. Talk about assholes. He didn’t get what he wanted soon enough, so he just moved on. He’s not worth worrying about.”

“I know.” Delphine nodded, firmly believing her cousin’s words. But her frown deepened into a scowl just the same. “I was going to have sex with him. I really was. I just didn’t want to rush into it. It’s not like I left him hanging for months or something.”

“He’s the asshole,” Celine said in full support mode, even if that meant repeating herself for an entire evening. “Not you.”

Delphine's scowl turned into a sneer. “Asshole,” she muttered, picturing Aldous' pale, rugged face.

A few days ago, Aldous had dropped her quite abruptly and quite rudely so he could fuck a twenty-year-old model. While she and Aldous hadn’t dated long enough for her heart to be involved, it was humiliating, disappointing, and infuriating.

With a sigh, she said, “Maybe he thought I was a tease.”

“Delphine,” Celine began, an edge of warning in her voice.

“I know. I didn’t lead him on. But last Friday, we kind of got going and then I made him stop. Maybe he thought—”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what he thought. You didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t have to give it up just because he wants you to. And you have every right to stop sex at any point, whenever you want and for whatever reason.”

“I didn’t change my mind in the middle of sex. We were just messing around some on the couch. Still in our clothes and everything. But he was getting into it. And I wasn’t. As much.”

Celine's expression changed as she set down her empty beer bottle. “Why weren’t you into it?”

Delphine shrugged and tried to articulate her somewhat chaotic feelings. “I don’t know. I liked him—I thought. But when we got going, it just didn’t feel right.”

“What didn’t feel right about it?”

“I don’t know.” Delphine blushed a little as she made herself admit, “It was all right, I guess. But it wasn’t as good as I’m used to.”

Celine snorted and opened her mouth to respond.

Delphine spoke over her, “I know. I know. I’m not an idiot. I’m not expecting the same level of expertise as I get with a professional. But...I don’t know. It just seemed like Aldous was kind of selfish about stuff.”

“I was afraid of this,” Delphine said with a sigh. “The truth is that, when it comes to sex, selfishness is pretty typical with guys.”

“Great. How infinitely comforting.”

“I don’t mean they’re all jerks. I just mean it’s more common for them to go about sex focusing on what they want rather than ensuring that you get what you want.” Celine shook her head and clicked her tongue. “It’s a sad fact of the world.”

Delphine thought about that for a minute. Then she raised her beer bottle. “Here’s to selfish assholes in bed. May they stay far away from us.”

Celine chuckled and toasted with her empty bottle. “I’ll drink to that. Or I would if I had any beer left.”

“I’ve got more in the fridge.” Delphine got up to get a fresh six-pack out of her refrigerator, and as she returned she heard a familiar bing that signaled she’d received a new email.

She ran over and peered at her computer screen. Then exhaled in disappointment when she saw an ad for Viagra with every other word spelled incorrectly.

She sent the message to her junk mail and returned to Celine with the beer.

“Who are you expecting a message from?” Celine asked. “A new guy already?”

“No. There’s no new guy. I’m not expecting anything.”

Celine narrowed her eyes. “Delphine?”

Delphine made a face at her cousin, but there was no use trying to keep it a secret. “I emailed Cosima yesterday to see if she’d schedule a new appointment with me.”

“What? What? What?”

Embarrassed by the confession and annoyed by Celine's obvious shock, Delphine scowled again. “Well, why shouldn’t I? You just got through telling me that most guys are selfish assholes. So why shouldn’t I take the necessary steps to make sure I have good experiences.”

“No reason,” Celine said, holding up her hands in defense at Delphine's vehement tone. “But there are good guys out there. They’re just hard to find.”

“I know. And eventually I want to find one. But right now I’m annoyed and frustrated and I don’t want to mess with dating again yet. There aren’t any people I’m interested in at the moment. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t schedule another session with Cosima!”

“As long as you’re not using her as a crutch or secretly hoping for some sort of Pretty Woman scenario.”

“Celine!” Delphine snapped, “Would you give that up? I’m not an idiot. I just want to do my own thing for a while. And this is my own thing.”

Celine studied Delphine's expression soberly for a long while. But then she nodded, evidently satisfied with what she saw. “All right. I get it. But I think you’re mostly doing it because you’re pissed.”

Delphine was pissed. With Aldous in particular and with men in general. And, if she wasn’t so pissed, she might not have found the courage to go back to Cosima, after the way they’d ended things.

Another bing from her computer alerted her to a new email. This time, when Delphine went over to check, she saw Cosima's name in the “From” column.

She exhaled deeply with relief when she saw her response. She’d emailed her yesterday on a random impulse, but when she hadn’t heard back from her as quickly as usual, she’d started to get worried. Maybe she was tired of putting up with her whims. Or, even worse, maybe she was hurt or offended by her dropping her services last month.

She’d never wanted to hurt her feelings. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have worried, since surely she'd be pleased to get a returning client. But things had been so intense in their last session, and she was still confused about some of it.

“She says she’s free on Monday.”

“This Monday?” Celine asked. “I thought she was always booked for weeks in advance.”

“She is.” Delphine drew her eyebrows together as she returned to the floor next to Celine. It was very strange that she had an available evening so quickly. “She must have had a cancellation.”

As she opened another beer, planning to get significantly tipsier by the end of the night, Delphine felt a twitter in her belly.

She was excited about seeing Cosima again. She’d missed her more than she’d expected, and she kept getting the unprovoked urge to tell her things and hear her response. But she was also nervous.

For a while, she’d thought she’d gotten to know Cosima pretty well. She’d thought she had a handle on her personality.

But their last couple of encounters had taught her that there were depths to Cosima she’d never plunged. There were truths hidden in her soul she’d not yet begun to explore.

And she had no idea what to expect from her on Monday night.

***

Delphine pulled on her lavender cashmere set after her bath on Monday—the same thing she’d worn to her first engagement with Cosima several months ago. The outfit was familiar, and the soft tank and pajama pants were cozy and comfortable.

But it didn’t soothe the nervous jitters in her belly.

She was on her second glass of wine when she heard the knock at the hotel room door. She took three deep breaths as she walked over. But then, when she swung the door open, she felt an unexpected flare of warmth at the sight of Cosima standing in the doorway. Just as she always had.

This evening, she wore a charcoal gray suit and a black shirt without a tie. She was smooth, beautiful, and sophisticated. To her infinite relief, she wasn’t smiling that horrible fake smile.

She wasn’t smiling at all. She just looked at her with an expression of quizzical scrutiny. She was fully composed, though. Whatever deep emotion had been eating at her the last time they’d met had been fully reined in and controlled.

All of which was very reassuring.

Delphine gave her a sheepish smile. “Hi. I changed my mind.”

The corner of Cosima's mouth gave a tiny twitch. So slight she almost didn’t catch it. “So I see.”

She let her into the room, and they walked over to the round table next to the window. “I hope that’s all right,” Delphine said, perching on the edge of one of the chairs.

“It’s not a problem for me.” Her dark green eyes were still scanning her face, as if she were trying to dig something out of her expression.

“I just feel kind of bad about it. Going back and forth like this.”

Cosima shook her head, her lips giving another twitch. “Do you really think I expect a commitment from my clients? That’s the whole point of using my services.”

She seemed sincere. There was no trace of angst in her eyes or her expression. In fact, she thought she saw a glint of amusement. It was something she never would have expected.

She frowned. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Of course not.”

“I’m not really wishy-washy,” she explained. “My circumstances have changed.”

“I suppose that means you dumped your boyfriend.”

Delphine gave a little sniff. “He wasn’t my boyfriend. But I would have dumped him, I’m sure.”

Cosima's eyes widened. “He dumped you?”

She couldn’t help but experience a quiver of pleasure at the faint astonishment in her voice. It was nice that someone thought she was capable of holding onto a man. “He was an asshole.”

“Clearly. It was very wise of you to get rid of him as quickly as you did.”

“Exactly,” Delphine said with a resolute nod.

Cosima's mouth twitched again.

So did Delphine's.

As simple as that, they fell back into their comfortable, companionable interaction. She’d been horribly afraid that tonight would be awkward or uncomfortable. Or tense and confrontational like their conversation in the elevator.

But it was like nothing had happened between them at all.

Contrarily, a tiny part of Delphine missed the intensity coiled inside of Cosima after the fundraiser last month. Missed the urgency with which she’d looked at her, touched her, fucked her.

But that was absurd. This laidback sociability was much easier to deal with. And she was pretty sure she would have chickened out if she’d been confronted with any uncomfortable urgency or bewildering angst this evening.

Remembering her manners, she stood up and poured Cosima a glass of wine. She accepted it with thanks and sat down in the second chair.

“I wasn’t expecting you to have an opening in your schedule so soon,” Delphine said, interested in her availability and also just wanting to make conversation.

Cosima hesitated as she sipped her wine. Then she finally said, “I’ve been cutting back a little.”

Delphine's eyes widened. “On your clients, you mean? Why is that?”

Her lips tightened and Delphine recognized the shuttered expression. She recognized it very well.

Before she could fob her off with some piece of nonsense, Delphine said, “I ask a lot of questions. I can’t help it. That’s who I am. But don’t get all tense and closed off if I ask something you don’t want to answer. Just tell me to shut up.”

To her relief, Cosima's expression relaxed. “Understood.”

She wasn’t sure why, but she kind of liked the idea that Cosima wasn’t seeing as many clients as she used to. She clearly remembered how much she’d disliked seeing her with Shay at the fundraiser. “I suppose being a female escort might not be a line of work you want to continue indefinitely. Have you ever thought about switching careers?”

She nodded slowly, her eyes resting on the bed across the room. “Occasionally.”

It wasn’t much of an answer, and it didn’t tell her nearly as much as she wanted to know. But at least she hadn’t told her to shut up. She wanted to push her on this issue, but she made herself hold back. Instead, she moved over to the bed with her wine and stretched out, making herself comfortable since she was pretty sure now she’d want to have sex later on.

She said in a light drawl, “You know what you should be? A sex therapist.”

Obviously taken by surprise, Cosima gave an inelegant snort over the rim of her wine glass. “Excuse me?”

“A sex therapist. Just think about how good you were with helping me out. People would line up for sessions from you.”

For a moment, Delphine held her breath—unsure of Cosima's reaction. It could have gone either way. But then her lips twitched. “There would be an appalling sort of irony to that career choice.”

She grinned. “Or you could do what I suggested before. Do seminars and webinars with instructions on specially how men can better please women.” Thinking about Aldous, her expression transformed into a bitter scowl. “They definitely need the advice.”

Cosima arched one eyebrow. “Any particular disappointing experience you'd like to share?”

“Shut up.” Although she’d fixed her scowl on Cosima now because of her smug smirk, she wasn’t really annoyed with her. She felt a ridiculous urge to giggle. “Oh, I know! You should write a book.”

Cosima shook her head with wry amusement. “If you’re going to suggest I write romance novels—”

“No, no,” she interrupted. “Although I’m sure you’d probably write good ones. I mean you should write a non-fiction book on all you’ve learned about women. It would be a best-seller.”

“The Confessions of a Hooker?”

Her voice was still amused but Delphine didn’t like the note of bitterness she detected. “Not like that. I suppose your former profession could be a marketing ploy, but I mean more like a how-to book. I’m serious. You really should write up all the wisdom and insight you have about women and relationships.”

“Wisdom and insight?” Faint skepticism was etched on her handsome features.

Delphine straightened up on the bed, frowning at her in annoyance. “How can you be so smug one minute and then so completely oblivious the next? You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. And I’ve never met anyone with the kind of experience with human nature you’ve had. I’m not saying it’s a blessing or that it didn’t come with a price. But you have it. Why not use it?”

Her gaze was oddly still. Quiet. “I do use it.”

She made a frustrated noise in her throat. “I meant use it to write a book. Channel it in a different way. I have a lot of contacts in the publishing industry. I can almost guarantee I’d find at least a few editors who’d be interested in giving it a read.”

Cosima just looked at her for a full minute, her expression so acutely observant that Delphine wanted to squirm. “Are you trying to convert me out of my life of depravity?”

Delphine almost sputtered. She hadn’t thought that was what she was doing. She’d just gotten an idea and run with it—the way she always did. “What kind of hypocrite would I be if I was doing that, given how much money I’ve paid you to fuck me? I hope you don’t think I was judging you. I wouldn’t.” She stared down at her wine glass, strangely self-conscious all of a sudden. “You don’t really think I was doing that, do you?”

“Delphine,” Cosima began, her voice drawing her eyes to her face again. “Sometimes I have no idea what to think of you.”

Not sure whether she’d been complimented or insulted, she gave her a cool glare. “Well, I assure you the feeling is mutual.”

She thought her lip might have given that delicious twitch, but she was still seated in the chair, too far away from the bed to be sure.

“Were you really thinking of leaving the business?” Delphine asked at last.

“I never said that. You asked if I ever think about it, and naturally I think about it occasionally.”

“Do you actually find this line of work...satisfying?”

Cosima gave a slight shrug. “I’m good at it. I make a lot of money. I set my own terms. I’ve succeeded in...”

When she trailed off, Delphine prompted, “Succeeded in what?” Not for the first time, she wondered if Cosima was happy. If she was anything close to happy with the life she’d made for herself.

She really didn’t want to judge her—not knowing anything about what had shaped her choices—but she couldn’t imagine that she found life genuinely satisfying allowing her body and even her personhood to be used the way it was.

She shook her head and didn’t answer.

“Was it hard?” Delphine asked, letting the questions spill out now that she’d started on the subject she’d been too afraid to ask about before. “The first time, I mean. Was it hard when you started being an escort?”

Cosima was silent for a long time as she stared at an empty spot in the air. Then she said, “Shut up, Delphine.”

Delphine huffed and gave a little flounce of frustration on the bed, but she couldn’t complain or say anything. She was the one who had told Cosima to shut her down if she became too nosy.

Watching her pout, Cosima chuckled and finished off her wine. She looked a lot more at ease now than she had the last time she’d seen her. She wondered what had changed. What kind of personal resolutions she’d come to. What had allowed her to level off the emotional tension she’d witnessed before.

She still didn’t know what all of that emotional tension last month even meant.

There were far too many things about Cosima that she didn’t know. And she realized how much she deeply disliked her ignorance. The curiosity she’d always felt about Cosima had, for some reason, intensified into a driving need to know.

But Cosima clearly wasn’t going to tell her—not even the most basic of answers.

She just sat there, drinking her wine, still laughing softly to herself.

“What are you laughing at?” she demanded, deciding she was annoyed with her for enjoying her frustration, even as mildly as she was.

“Hasn’t anyone told you no before when you pry into their lives?”

“Yes, but usually I’m able to get around that.” She gave Cosima an assessing look, trying to figure out what it would take to get her to open up about her secrets, about all the things she refused to tell her.

Cosima just chuckled again, as if she knew exactly what she was plotting and knew she didn’t have a chance of succeeding.

Delphine gave a gasp of outrage at her brazen amusement at her expense and impulsively chucked a pillow at her.

It hit her squarely in the chest with a satisfying whoosh.

Cosima blinked at her.

Pleased at having taken her by surprise, she threw another pillow at her. This one was aimed even better, and it smacked into her face before flopping in her lap.

Cosima made a winded sound and dropped the pillow onto the floor near the first one. “A rather childish entertainment, don’t you think?”

At another time, her dry tone might have smothered her playful impulses, made her feel foolish and young. But she knew she’d pitched her voice to be patronizing on purpose to adjust the playing field in her favor.

She ignored her comment. For the moment she had the upper-hand and she wasn’t about to lose it.

There were six pillows on the bed. She threw another one at her. Again, it connected with her face and she made a huffing sound at the impact.

Then she got to her feet.

Feeling a thrill of excitement, Delphine grabbed the other three pillows in preparation.

She hurled another one as she advanced toward the bed. It hit Cosima with more force than her other attempts, but her aim wasn’t quite as careful. The pillow hit her groin, making her grunt.

Delphine couldn’t hold back a giggle as she prepared for another assault.

To her dismay, Cosima caught her next missile and smoothly dropped it into the pile with the others before she reached the side of the bed.

She was smiling now. A new smile. One that was dangerous, almost predatory. It prompted a shudder of excitement along her spine and took her breath away.

She clutched at her last pillow, gripping it desperately as she resisted Cosima's attempts to pull it out of her hands.

“It is unquestionably foolish to begin a battle when you don’t know the full strength of your adversary,” Cosima murmured.

“I do know,” Delphine insisted, scooting back on the bed a little as Cosima loomed threateningly over her.

Then she cheated. She absolutely cheated. She grabbed her ankle and brushed her fingers lightly over the sole of her bare foot.

Her ticklish instinct triggered, she squealed and jerked her foot away.

While she was distracted, Cosima smoothly pulled the pillow from her loosened grip.

“Hey!” She stared in mute outrage as Cosima added the final pillow to her stash by the table.

Now she had all the pillows. And Delphine didn’t have any.

“That was a cheap shot,” she gritted out, sizing up her position and the distance to the pile of pillows.

“I told you. Without full knowledge of your adversary, you’ll invariably lose the battle.” She smiled at her again, that same predatory smile that seemed almost more natural to her than her ironic one. Until now, she’d never known this side of Cosima even existed. “You have no idea how low I’ll stoop to win a challenge.”

It only took Delphine a moment to figure out what to do. “You’re right. Well played.” She beamed at her, using her broad, sunny smile in the hopes that it would put her off her guard.

She didn’t drop her guard, but, as she gazed down at her, she saw a brief expression in her eyes that was just a little softer than usual.

So she acted.

She reached out and grabbed her crotch, taken aback when she felt she was slightly hard. Pushing past that distraction, she squeezed her there—making sure not to genuinely hurt her.

When she grunted, Delphine slipped past her looming figure and made a dash for the pillows.

She’d almost reached them when she felt a strong arm wrap around her middle, heaving her up until she was slung over one of her shoulders like a bag of grain.

She howled in outrage and flailed her arms and legs. To no avail. Cosima's arm was unyielding as she braced her in position until she reached the bed and unceremoniously dumped her back onto the mattress.

Gasping, flushed, and more excited than was entirely reasonable, Delphine said by way of explanation, “You’re not the only one who will stoop low to win.”

“Evidently.”

“That’s what you get for tickling me.” She stuck out her chin to show her determination and her unwillingness to be cowed by her stalking intimidation.

She stood next to the bed and stared down at her. She'd gotten tenser and the feral, dangerous look was even stronger in her eyes. Every muscle in Delphine's body tightened as she waited in breathless expectation.

She knew she was going to do something. But she had no idea what she would do.

Then she did it.

She grabbed her ankle again and started to tickle her foot. Delphine squealed and squirmed, but she couldn't free herself. Cosima was relentless as her strong, skillful hands worked over one foot and then the other. And then started traveling up her calves to the sensitive spots at the back of her knees, pushing up her cashmere pants as she went.

Delphine writhed on the bed, overcome with gasping laughter and merciless torment. She tried to resist, tried to pull away and fight her hands. But Cosima was as good at tickling as she was at everything else. She was helpless, at her mercy, as her hands moved up to tickle her belly and sides.

She was leaning over her now, and Delphine was practically screaming with both delight and agony. Her legs hung off the bed, and she tried to get her feet on the floor to give herself some leverage. But Cosima adjusted against her strategy, using the weight of her body to hold her in place.

Her hands had moved under her tank so she could tickle her bare skin. Delphine wriggled and arched and squirmed beneath her. She gasped out, “Mon Dieu, Cosima! Mon Dieu! Cosima!”

Cosima was hot and strong and substantial above her, and, in the blur of her tickle-induced haze, she caught a glimpse of an expression on her face that was half-militant and half-warm.

It was the warmth in her eyes more than the militancy that shifted the nature of her physical sensations. She couldn’t stop squirming. Couldn’t stop rocking beneath the weight of her lean, firm body. Couldn’t stop panting and choking out her name.

But the stimulation had somehow transformed into something just as delicious, just as torturous, but it didn’t make her laugh.

She arched her spine, shamelessly trying to rub her breasts against Cosima's. Her arms flew back above her head so she could fist her hands in the bedding. “Cosima,” she gasped, a jolt of deep arousal slicing through her.

She didn’t miss a beat. Just pushed her tank top up even farther and leaned down enough to take one of her breasts in her mouth.

Delphine moaned as she suckled her nipple, and her hands started to caress and fondle her sides, belly, hips and thighs rather than sustaining the tickle-assault.

Her mouth and hands felt so much better on her body than Aldous' had. And it wasn’t just because she was more skillful. It seemed natural to feel Cosima above her, feel her lips on her breast, her hands on her bare skin, stroking secret parts of her no one else had ever touched.

Her legs still hung over the side of the bed, so she tried to wrap them around Cosima's body. She was wearing far too many clothes, but she didn’t want to take the time to get rid of them. She rubbed her hot arousal against the bulge she felt in Cosima's pants, only a few layers of fabric between her flesh and hers.

“Cosima,” she rasped, tossing her head back and forth with a desire that was quickly spinning out of control. “Condom. Now.”

She pulled her head from her breast and released one of her thighs. She stared at her for a minute, her eyes hot and oddly unfocused. Then she pulled off her cashmere pants and stood up for just long enough to grab a condom from her case and rip it open.

She fumbled with her pants and boxers until she’d freed her cock. Then she rolled on the condom and moved back into the position she’d taken before, braced above her, half off the bed.

She’d parted her legs for her, but she pushed her thighs further apart before she slid two fingers into her entrance to check her readiness. She was wetter than she thought was possible after so little foreplay. Her breath hitched as she fucked her with her fingers for a minute, curling them up to rub against her g-spot.

“Cosima,” she begged, clutching at the bedding. “Please.”

She was still wearing most of her clothes, and her flushed, tense face above her expensive shirt and suit was the hottest thing she’d ever seen.

Her thumb found her clit and she massaged it until the tremors of an orgasm pulsed through her, making her moan and shudder.

Sucking in air as she came down, she started to claw at Cosima's ass, trying to move her into position, still hungry for more. She adjusted her body to align her cock at her entrance.

Then, with a pitch of her hips, she pushed her cock inside her.

She arched up again as she entered her. She was tight from nearly a month without sex.

“Fuck,” Cosima muttered. She was bracing herself with her hands on the bed, and her face had jerked to the side.

She wanted her to look at her again. Wanted to see the expression in her eyes. “All right?” she managed to ask.

She straightened her neck and opened her eyes. Made a sound that might have been a choked laugh. “Yeah. You ready?”

“Yeah.” When she made her first long thrust, she parted her lips and stretched her neck with pleasure. “Oh yeah.” She thrust again, and she dug her fingers into the clenched muscles of her ass. “Oh yeah.”

They fucked like that, only halfway on the bed, and Delphine loved it. Her body grew hotter and more urgent with every one of Cosima's hard thrusts, and her panting transformed into little sobs of pleasure as they rocked together and shook the bed.

She fumbled at her ass and her back, trying to pull her deeper inside her. She’d wrapped her legs around her hips and she kept trying to get them higher up her back so she could feel even more of her. Get her deeper.

Her body was blazing hot and sweating beneath her clothes, and her own uneven breathing turned into rhythmic guttural sounds—almost like grunts—every time she pushed inside her.

“Mon Dieu,” she choked. “Oh Cosima.” Her whole body had started to shake and waves of heat bombarded her.

The speed of her rutting intensified and she was so tense she could see the tight sinews in her neck.

“Gonna come. You come too.” She clawed at her bare ass, knowing she was marking her, wanting to mark her. Then her whole body arched back and her mouth opened in a silent scream of pleasure.

Her inner walls clamped down around Cosima's cock and she fell out of rhythm too. With a few last grunts, she pushed against her clenching. Then her cock pulsed, her whole body pulsed, as she climaxed on a choked word.

Her breathing was fast and sloppy as her elbows buckled and her body collapsed briefly on hers.

She clung to her for the few moments she remained on top of her, holding her with her arms and her legs.

Then she heaved herself up with a groan. “Got to get the condom,” she muttered, holding it in place as she pulled out of her before her cock softened fully.

Delphine was sore and her muscles felt overly stretched, but as she scooted back fully onto the bed and got under the covers, she felt ridiculously satisfied.

Cosima was right about what she’d said in the elevator last month. Why should she over-complicate this? She paid Cosima good money. And she gave her good sex. They got along just fine, and she liked to spend time with her.

Her only regret was that Cosima had won the pillow fight.

Cosima stayed in the bathroom a little longer than usual but not as long as she had that night she returned from Hong Kong.

She realized, as she walked back into the room fully naked, that they’d stopped turning the lights off at some unspecified point over the past few months. She could see Cosima's lean, nude body as clear as day as she made her way over to her side of the bed and bent over to pick up her boxers.

She had broad shoulders, a tight abdomen, long legs and a trim, gorgeous ass. Her butt was exposed to her as she pulled her boxers on, so she had an excellent view of the firm cheeks and trim flanks. And the angry red marks crisscrossing her skin from her fingernails.

She stifled a snicker at this evidence of how vividly she’d marked her, and she pulled the sheet and comforter up to her armpits. She wasn’t wearing anything except her cashmere tank, and her body wasn’t perfectly chiseled for public appreciation the way Cosima's was.

Cosima gave her a questioning look as she returned to the bed and got under the covers beside her. “What?”

She must not have hid her snicker very well. “Nothing.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you laughing at me?”

“I’m not. Not really. I was just looking at those scratches I made on your ass. Sorry about that.”

With a half-shrug, she replied, “No big deal.”

“I didn’t realize I scratched you that hard. They don’t hurt, do they?”

“Not much. Don’t worry about it. At least you weren't pulling my hair.” Her mouth quirked into a smile. “Although you were rather enthusiastic.”

Her tone was light and teasing, but Delphine's cheeks burned painfully. She had been enthusiastic. More than enthusiastic. She’d been almost frantic in her need to get her inside her. She’d liked the feeling at the time, but now she was embarrassed by her brazenness, her almost childish eagerness.

“What’s the matter?” Cosima asked, studying her face. She tried to meet her eyes but she avoided her gaze.

“Nothing.”

“Delphine.” Cosima's voice held an edge of warning, the way Celine's always did when Delphine was being foolish.

“Fine,” Delphine relented with a scowl. “I’m just embarrassed.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s not rational. It’s just that the world seems to think that being cool and collected is the way to go. And I can never manage to be that way, no matter how hard I try. I just get too excited about things. And this sex stuff is still pretty new to me, and you made it sound like I...like I ...” She trailed off, not sure how to articulate her uncomfortable feeling.

“Like you what?” Cosima had turned onto her side and was watching her with a frown.

“Like I was overly eager or something.” The flush on her cheeks deepened and she couldn’t look her in the eye. She wished she’d never brought the ridiculous subject up. “Never mind. It’s just a stupid feeling. I know it’s silly.”

“Yes,” Cosima said slowly. “It is.”

She gasped and cut her eyes back to glare at her.

She just lifted her eyebrows. “Surely you know better than to think being enthusiastic in bed is a turn-off.”

When she put it that way, her embarrassment did sound pretty silly. But still... “No need to be snotty about it,” she huffed.

Cosima just chuckled and changed the subject. “So have you been practicing with your vibrator?”

It seemed a perfectly natural transition to Delphine so she answered easily. “Yes. I’ve been doing pretty well, I think. Thanks for getting it for me and helping me with it.”

“You’re welcome.” Cosima stretched her long body, as if she were trying to make herself more comfortable. “So your boyfriend was a disappointment in bed?”

Had Delphine been thinking about it, she might have noticed that there had been no real segue to this question. But she was feeling relaxed and satisfied again, and she didn’t notice anything odd about it. “He wasn’t my boyfriend. We never got that far.” At Cosima's puzzled look, she clarified, “We never got far enough for him to be my boyfriend. And, actually, we never got as far as bed.”

“I see. He was one of those. Sloppy sex in the back of a car?” Cosima asked, her voice dry and teasing.

“No!” Delphine's tone was outraged, but she was more amused than anything else. “We never had sex at all.”

Her quivering smile faded as she thought about Aldous and how he’d made her feel. She shook her head ruefully. “Evidently, that was the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t put out soon enough for him, so he found someone younger and hotter.”

“What?” Cosima's question wasn’t loud, but the understated astonishment in her voice was once again comforting.

“So you think it’s bad too, don’t you?” Delphine asked, meeting her eyes earnestly. “I mean, you don’t think it’s acceptable for a guy to treat me like trash just because I didn’t fuck him on the third date.”

For a moment, Cosima's jaw was tense and a little muscle flickered in her cheek. Then her face relaxed and she turned to give her a small shake of her head. “Sounds like you picked out an asshole for yourself.”

Delphine giggled, feeling absurdly better about the whole thing now that Cosima had so matter-of-factly sentenced Aldous to the same level of hell she and Celine had. “That’s what I say.”

When she glanced over at Cosima, she caught herscanning her face with obvious scrutiny. “What?” she demanded.

“You hadn’t really fallen for the asshole, had you?” Her tone was casual, nonchalant, and it didn’t quite match the urgent searching of her eyes.

“No. I really hadn’t. I mean, I felt like crap after he dumped me. But I was mostly humiliated. I really thought he had potential so I felt so stupid afterwards. And it did hurt. I’ve always felt ...” Her words had spilled out unthinkingly, but she cut herself off when she realized what she was about to say.

“You’ve always felt what?”

Delphine closed her eyes. She had no intention of opening up about this, but she heard herself saying the words anyway. “I’ve always felt second-best. You know, always in the shadow of someone else. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was in love with someone all through high school and college who didn’t love me back. And this thing with Aldous kind of made me feel that way again. Like I was being stupid for expecting the hot guy to fall in love with me.” Her voice cracked a little as she concluded, “I guess I keep waiting for someone to choose me, to want me, over all the other women they could have.”

The hotel room was silent as she finished, and she darted nervous eyes over to Cosima. Her expression was quiet, reflective, and it made Delphine burn with self-consciousness again.

What the hell was she thinking? Spilling her guts like that.

She must think she was a needy, foolish girl.

Cosima didn’t speak immediately, and Delphine couldn’t think of anything to say. She squirmed restlessly, trying to talk herself back into the comfortable familiarity she’d felt earlier this evening.

She was just on the verge of back-pedaling when Cosima finally spoke.

“There was a woman who was a business associate of my father’s. She was about ten years older than me, but she’d been making moves on me since I was eighteen.”

Delphine blinked, disoriented at first with the change of subject. Cosima laying on the bed beside her with her hands crossed behind her head. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, and there was no trace of emotion on her face.

She realized she was answering her question from earlier that evening—about her first time as a escort. Maybe her confession, her making herself vulnerable, had opened the door for her as well.

“After my dad and I got into our ten-millionth fight, I swore I’d have nothing more to do with him. I kept my word. I’d been working on an MBA, but I dropped out of school, and I would no longer use any of his money or resources. I bummed around for almost a year, living with friends and doing nothing constructive. And this woman kept making moves on me. I wasn’t interested. She wasn’t my type and I didn’t like her connections to my dad. Then she offered me five-thousand dollars to go on a date with her.”

Cosima's voice was dry and matter-of-fact, and her features were so calm they were almost stoic. “I accepted. I didn’t have a job and I had no money of my own. I took her to dinner, then a cocktail party, then back to her place where I fucked her. I lived for a month on one night’s work.”

Delphine's heart was racing for some reason, and she couldn’t seem to take a full breath. But she kept her voice natural, not wanting to make a big deal about the fact that she’d opened up for the first time. “Did your father know about it?”

“Oh yeah. I made sure he knew. It seemed so easy to me. Take women out. Make money doing it. This woman had a lot of friends, so I got referrals from the very beginning. Gradually, I made a whole business out of it.”

“Was it hard?” Delphine asked, keeping her voice as light as possible. “That first time?”

“No.” Cosima shifted her eyes over to meet her gaze, although she only held it for a few seconds. “It really wasn’t. I was angry and...and determined. I’m not saying it wasn’t hard at...other times. But the first time wasn’t. At all.” She gave a bitter laugh. “It didn’t take long for my father to disown me completely.”

“He knows you still do this?”

“Yes. He pretends not to recognize my existence. But he knows.”

As she gazed over at Cosima in the artificial light of the room, she thought for a moment that she looked incredibly young. Which was ridiculous. She was seven years older than she was, and she’d had more than one lifetime’s worth of experience already.

But she looked young. Like a girl. Like a girl who still wanted her father to love her.

She moved instinctively, without planning ahead or thinking her actions through. She just raised herself up on her elbows and leaned over toward where her head was resting on a pillow.

Then her lips found hers. Pressed against them in a soft, brief kiss.

It all felt perfectly natural until Cosima's breath caught audibly in her throat. Her body jerked slightly and she stared at her in astonishment, her dark green eyes wide and bewildered.

Delphine blushed hotly and pulled away.

“What’s going on?” Cosima asked, her voice slightly breathless.

Delphine felt breathless too. “I don’t know,” she admitted sheepishly. “I just...just felt like kissing you. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry.” Cosima's shock had subdued and she was looking more like herself, quiet and watchful as her eyes scanned her face. “I told you from the beginning we could kiss if you wanted to. I just thought you didn’t want to pretend.”

“I don’t. I still don’t want to pretend anything. I don’t know why I did that.” Delphine was still propped up beside her, looking down at her, but she wished she’d never started this whole thing. She was nervous, confused, and self-conscious, and she didn’t like feeling that way.

Cosima's eyes never left her face. “We’ve never done it before, so maybe you were just curious.”

It wasn’t the truth, but it was a good excuse, so Delphine wasn’t about to object. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to try kissing?” Cosima asked. “If it feels unnatural, we don’t have to do it. It’s entirely up to you.”

Delphine stared down at her sober face, deep eyes, and gracefully curved lips. She did want to try—just to see what it was like. But she was suddenly so nervous she couldn’t make herself move.

“Delphine?” Cosima prompted. She hadn’t moved. Not a muscle. She laid perfectly still and watched her. Waited.

Her body moved of its own accord and she scooted closer to her. Leaned down so her mouth was just a whisper away from Cosima's. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could hear it, feel it in her head, in her fingertips, in her lips.

There was no rational reason for her to be so hesitant and anxious about a kiss. But she felt frozen in place, breathing unsteadily and shaking a little.

“Just try it, Delphine,” Cosima said, her voice a little thick. She could feel her breath on her skin. “Kiss me.”

Then suddenly she was kissing her. She didn’t know who had closed the gap between their mouths. She didn’t remember moving, but Cosima's lips were suddenly pressed against hers.

With a choked sound, she grabbed her hair with one of her hands. A thrill of excitement and arousal ripped through her as her mouth moved eagerly against hers.

She slid her tongue against the line of her lips in a questioning exploration. When she opened for her, her tongue dipped inside, teasing and stroking with both hunger and confidence.

Then Cosima turned them over on the bed so she was on top. One of her hands cradled the back of her head as the kiss grew deeper and more intense.

Delphine clutched at her head with both hands, feeling the softness of her hair with her fingertips. Her whole body rocked up into hers as their lips and tongues danced and dueled. She was so hot it felt like she was branding her—on her lips, all over her body.

Delphine whimpered against her mouth and breathed desperately through her nose, until she finally pulled away and collapsed back on the bed beside her.

Delphine panted hotly—aroused, exhilarated, and terrified.

“How did you like it?” Cosima asked. She was glad to hear that she sounded rather breathless and her voice was a little hoarse.

“Um.”

“If it feels fake or unnatural to you, we don’t have to do it. It’s up to you.”

“Um.”

“Sometimes it’s nice to do something different, but we can do whatever you want.”

“Um.”

Cosima's eyes finally found and held hers. “Well? What did you think?”

Delphine swallowed hard. “Wow. You’re really good at that.”

Something softened almost imperceptibly in Cosima's face. “Should we try it again?”

Delphine would be a sorry fool not to try something that good again. Why the hell hadn’t she been kissing her all along?

Feeling a surge of deep desire, she rolled back over and grabbed her hair once more. Then she kissed her hard and deep.

Her arms came up around her immediately, and she helped pull her into position on top of her. She sprawled over her warm, lean body and couldn’t seem to stop kissing her.

This time, she used her tongue more actively, trying to match the skillful motion of hers. She stroked her smooth hair and felt a jolt of sharp pleasure when she moaned softly at the back of her throat.

While they kissed, Cosima's hands were busy. She caressed down her spine and then moved lower to her thighs and bottom, where she fondled and groped with intimate entitlement.

Breaking off the kiss for a minute so she could recoup and catch her breath, she slid one of her hands down past her breasts and belly until she could feel her erection through her boxers. The silk was thin and slippery, and she squeezed her hard flesh through the fabric.

She heard her breath hitch and figured it must be a good thing. She hadn’t quite evened out her own breathing when Cosima took her head in her hands and pulled her down into another kiss. Her fingers tangled in her hair as she teased her mouth open once more with her tongue. She kept massaging her cock as they kissed, loving how firm and substantial she felt beneath her hand and how her body kept tightening with each squeeze.

Soon, she got lost in the embrace. Her body did what it wanted to do, which was rub against hers and try to suck her tongue into her mouth. She felt her hands move down to her cashmere tank. She hazily thought she must be trying to pull it off of her, but she wouldn’t release her enough to let her do so.

Eventually, she gave up and instead moved her hips away so she could free her cock from her boxers. Their lips broke apart as she reached for a condom. Then she helped her into position as she straddled her pelvis and sank down, sheathing her erection with her wet heat.

She started to ride her the way she knew how, but after a few minutes she guided her upper body down against hers and claimed another kiss.

She had no objections. She didn’t have much freedom of motion, sprawled over her in this position, but she didn’t care. She felt full and hard inside her, and the slight friction of their rocking together was delicious. She could get some good stimulation on her clit from her pelvic bone, and she started to moan and huff against her mouth as the pressure of an orgasm developed between her legs.

Her head was spinning. The whole world was spinning. And it felt like Cosima would eat her alive, swallow her whole.

She jerked her head to the side as her body clenched up, just on the verge of shattering. She whimpered and panted, twisting her hips to get more stimulation from the penetration of Cosima's cock against her slick inner walls.

Then she came, her body writhing clumsily on top of hers as the spasms of pleasure sliced through her.

Cosima grunted and her hips bucked up with short jerks against her groin. Her fingers dug into the flesh of her ass. “Delphine?” she rasped, her face twisting briefly.

As she came down from her orgasm, she realized what she was asking. “You come too,” she said hoarsely. “Come, Cosima. Come.”

Her intimate muscles were tight and they felt tighter as Cosima pushed and thrust into her from below.

Then she felt her hot, wet mouth at the hollow of her neck. Then she felt her teeth.

She bit down hard as she climaxed, and Delphine cried out in surprised release, coming again unexpectedly from the mingling of pleasure and pain.

Their bodies twitched and rocked and softened as the waves of orgasm finally faded.

She was hot and sweaty, and so was Cosima. She panted desperately against her shoulder and neck, while she panted desperately against hers.

After a minute, she heaved herself up and pulled out of her the way she always did. As her cock slid out, her body resisted. Her inner walls seemed to clutch at her cock, and she felt a raw sensation as she finally slid out.

When she returned from disposing of the condom, she really wanted her to get back into bed. She looked warm, relaxed, and sated. Almost irresistible. She wanted to cuddle a little. To be held, hugged, cherished.

She wasn’t completely delusional, though. This was one of the consequences of going about sex the way she had. Without a deep emotional connection, there would always be something lacking. She figured she could manage to kiss her while they fucked without losing her sense of perspective. But pretending to snuggle afterwards would definitely be going too far.

So she told her she could take a shower if she wanted. And she was feeling more herself when she reemerged, composed and fully dressed in her charcoal gray suit.

She sat down in a chair and met her eyes as she lounged in the bed. “So what did you think? Did it feel too unnatural, like you were pretending?”

She hadn’t expected the question so she had no choice but to answer her honestly. “No. I wasn’t pretending at all. I mean, it didn’t feel fake. I liked it. It felt like a natural part of sex that I’d been missing out on before. Was it weird for you?”

“Of course not.” She pulled her smartphone out of her case. “Do you want to schedule some other engagements this month?”

“Yeah. Why don’t we? When do you have available?”

“When were you thinking?”

Delphine blinked in confusion. “I usually just take your earliest opening. When are you next free?”

“I have Friday available.” Cosima was clicking on her smartphone, like she was looking through her appointments.

“This Friday?” Delphine's voice squeaked a little. “That soon? Aren’t you booked up?”

Cosima's face looked oddly still for a moment. “I told you I’m cutting back a little.”

“Oh. Yeah. Friday is good. And maybe sometime next week. I’m going to be in Quebec for the weekend the week after that, so we’ll have to work around the trip.”

They set up a few more sessions and then Cosima got up to leave. Delphine handed her the envelope of cash, and she didn’t even glance at it. Just slid it into her pocket.

She pulled on her cashmere pants before she walked her to the door. She felt a little shy as she smiled and said goodbye. She didn’t know why she suddenly felt bashful, but it had something to do with the way she looked at her when she opened the door. Almost questioning. And strangely sweet.

“I’ll see you on Friday,” she said, lingering in the hall outside the door.

She smiled again, still ridiculously shy. “Yeah. I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’m glad you changed your mind. About scheduling engagements with me.”

Something softened in her chest at her slightly stilted words. Maybe it was relief she felt. She was so glad that she seemed to enjoy her engagements with her. Obviously, this wasn’t some sort of fated romance, but at least she was a little more to her than just a job.

She seemed to like her well enough, and she didn’t mind having sex with her. She felt like that was quite an accomplishment, given her complete lack of experience.

“Me too.”

She watched her walk down the hall to the elevator. Lean, upright, sleek, and urban. Infinitely experienced. And somehow wounded.

She would see her again on Friday. Just four days from now. She would get to kiss her again.

She couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for not giving up on me. Hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> Any mistakes let me know. Xx


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Escorted day! Or night, wherever you are :)
> 
> I appreciate the feedback A LOT, truly. I did not know how you would take a book adaptation but I feel like it worked. Thank you for the support. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Delphine wasn't entirely comfortable.

Her pussy was raw, her back felt bruised, her thigh and stomach muscles were aching, and her feet were losing circulation.

And she was about to come. Again.

At a little before midnight on Thursday night, Cosima had been getting ready to leave, and Delphine had innocently remarked that she’d only come four times that evening, when on the previous Friday she’d made her come six times. She’d just been teasing since she was perfectly satisfied with the evening’s activities.

But Cosima had heaved her up, sprawled her back onto the table, pushed her chemise up and her legs apart, and brought her to climax twice with her hand.

Then, erect again, she’d rolled on another condom and entered her, lifting her legs up so her ankles were propped on her shoulders as she started to thrust. It was an entirely undignified position, her legs in the air and her hands fumbling around on the smooth table for something to clutch. Her spine was sore from being pushed back and forth on the hard surface by Cosima’s forceful motion. The sound of slapping flesh and wet suction was vaguely embarrassing, as were the soft grunts she made to the tempo of her rutting.

She really shouldn’t be enjoying it so much.

She was, though, and she bit her lip hard as her muscles tensed up and the tremors of her seventh orgasm that evening started to rip through her body. She stifled her cry of release, and it came out as a high-pitched keening sound.

She gasped for Cosima to come too as the waves of satisfaction washed over her. She gazed up at her breathlessly as her flushed face twisted on her last few pushes inside her. Her fingers tightened bruisingly in the flesh of her ass, and she choked out a guttural word as she rolled her hips slowly, as if she were savouring her release.

Delphine had to stifle a giggle as she pulled out and helped her off the table. She clung to the edge for support, her legs barely able to hold her weight. She couldn’t believe they’d just done that. After Cosima had already showered and packed up her case.

As she went to the bathroom to take care of the condom, Delphine glanced at the clock and blinked at the time.

“I went twenty minutes over,” Delphine said when she returned to the room. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cosima’s eyes scanned her from her messy hair to her bare feet, and she saw her lips give a little twitch.

Knowing exactly what that expression meant, she narrowed her eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“I wasn’t laughing.”

“Yes, you were.”

Her mouth softened as she closed up her case again. “I really wasn’t laughing. I was just thinking you look a little worse for wear.”

With a huff, Delphine peered in a mirror. She was sorer than she’d expected to be, so she kept one hand on the table for support. She had another bruise on her neck, and she was pretty sure she’d have marks from Cosima's fingers on her bottom and thighs. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was covered with a sheen of perspiration. Plus, her hair was slightly damp from all the effort she’d put into sex tonight, sticking out in crazy, messy flips.

With a scowl for Cosima, she said, “It’s your fault, so you have no reason to laugh. If you didn't have dreads, you’d look messy too.”

The smile that had been twitching on the edges of her mouth emerged completely. “No argument here.”

Glancing again at the clock, Delphine felt a little pang of worry. “I’m sorry we went overtime. Should I give you—”

“No.” Cosima interrupted, a little sharply. “Don’t worry about it.”

She swallowed; afraid she’d offended her. She was generally pretty good-natured, but she was learning more and more that she had a sensitive psyche she hid beneath all the layers of cool sophistication. And Delphine didn’t always know when or how she might accidentally bruise it.

She took a step away from the table to go pick up her robe, feeling overly exposed all of a sudden in her skimpy satin chemise. But she winced on the first step as a jolt of soreness caught her between the legs.

“Sore?” Cosima asked, stepping over to put a hand around her waist and then help her into a chair. “Was I too rough?”

“Oh, no. I would have stopped you if it wasn’t good.” Reassured at her considerate manner, she grinned up at her. “It was good.”

Cosima pulled out her smartphone and started clicking. “Next time?”

“Yeah. We’re on for a week from Monday, right?”

“You don’t want anything earlier?”

She was really curious about how much she’d managed to free up her schedule recently, but she’d been too hesitant to pry into exactly why she was cutting back on clients. Every time she’d tried to hint at the subject, she’d closed down like a portcullis. 

“I’ve got that trip to Quebec.”

She looked at her blandly, and Delphine felt a little tremor of nerves as she considered a possibility. Then she decided she had nothing to lose. So, she said casually, “Have you ever been to Quebec?”

“Quebec City?” At her nod in affirmation, Cosima continued, “No, I haven’t.”

“Oh. I’ve got to go up there for a conference. I’m giving a lecture on Friday night and then have to attend a banquet on Saturday night. But I have all day Saturday and most of Sunday to hang out and do some sightseeing.” She almost made the suggestion, but then she chickened out. So, she concluded lamely, “I was wondering if you had any ideas about what I should see, if you’d been there before.”

“I haven’t been there,” Cosima repeated. She was still playing with her smartphone. Not really looking at her. “I’ve heard it’s a great city. It’s on my list of places to go.”

She appeared to be speaking absently, as if she weren’t really absorbed in the conversation. But she’d given her a great lead-in, so she steeled her courage up again. “I don’t suppose you want to—” The words stuck in her throat as a wave of anxious self-consciousness washed over her.

She had no idea why she was nervous about asking her. She’d paid for her to fuck her many times over the past six months. But something about this possibility made her feel more vulnerable than her requests for the normal sessions with Cosima.

Cosima’s eyes shot up to her face. “You don’t suppose I would want to what?”

She gulped. “Come with me.” Now that she’d gotten it said, she hurried on in a rush. “I mean, I know you do weekends. It was on your list of services. But this is probably too short notice. I should have planned earlier, but I was just thinking it might be fun. I mean, if you’re available. You’re probably not. It’s no big deal. Forget I said anything.”

“Which weekend is it again?” Cosima asked. She was clicking on her smartphone again. Her distraction with it was getting a little annoying—she could only imagine the kinds of appointments she had scheduled in it—but at least she seemed to be taking her suggestion seriously. “I have plans the tenth and eleventh.”

“No,” she said, feeling a little hopeful. “It’s next weekend. I know it’s short notice, so it’s really fine if you—”

“I don’t have any engagements scheduled then,” Cosima said, lowering her smartphone. “I think I could do it.”

Delphine felt a ridiculous rush of pleasure. “Really? Are you sure? I’d pay for airfare and the hotel and everything, like you have on your list of prices. And I know you have the base rate for a weekend, and then I guess we could add up all the sex—”

“Delphine.” Cosima interrupted again. “We’ll figure it out later.”

Her lips were pressed together tightly. She must have offended her again. It was a little awkward—having her company be a monetary commodity—but this was her business, and she wasn’t sure how else to address it. It was always better when they could just leave it unspoken. Just pass the envelope at the end of the night. She didn’t know how they could make plans for the weekend trip without working the money out first though.

She shrugged, however, and left the topic alone. Just said she’d email her with more details.

Despite the slight awkwardness, she was really excited about her joining her on the trip. She would be such good company. They could look around the city together. Cosima was so intelligent, informed, and witty that she knew she’d be the best kind of sightseeing companion.

Plus, they could have a whole weekend of sex.  
  
  
Terrase Dufferin was crowded late on Saturday morning, and Delphine and Cosima milled through tourists, street performers, and vendors as they made their way along the promenade.

They’d gotten up early that morning to hit some of the most popular sites before the crowds, but now they were just leisurely walking through Vieux Québec, the old city, without a particular plan or destination.

The sky was blue and cloudless, the sunshine warm, and the breeze off the river brisk and fresh. Delphine loved the feel of cobblestone under her shoes from the old streets and the historic architecture of the buildings surrounding her. And she even enjoyed some of the tacky tourist entertainment. She and Cosima paused for a full ten minutes to watch two performers dressed as Wolfe and Montcalm fight a mock duel in an amusing reflection on their historic battle.

As she’d expected, Cosima was both informed and witty. She told her details about military confrontations along the St. Lawrence at various points in history, and she didn’t hesitate to wryly point out inaccuracies in the various recreations of history designed for gullible tourists.

Delphine enjoyed her irony immensely, but she couldn’t feel particularly ironic herself. She was having too good a time. When they finished strolling along Terrasse Dufferin, they started down the stairs that led to the Lower Town and the river.

The stairs were very long, rather uneven, and incredibly steep. And Delphine was careful as she descended, not wanting to humiliate herself by tumbling head-over-heels to the bottom. She clapped her hands in silly delight when she made it to the bottom, and she didn’t even care that Cosima chuckled at her in dry amusement.

It was one of those perfect days. The weather was delightful. Her surroundings were inspiring. The wind off the St. Lawrence River was invigorating. And she had the rest of the day, plus most of tomorrow, to look forward to.

She would have had a good time here by herself, but it was even better with a companion like Cosima.  
“Oh look,” she said as they started along the walk by the river. She pointed to a vendor down the way. “Ice cream.”

Cosima lifted an eyebrow. “It’s not even eleven in the morning.”

“What’s your point?” Delphine demanded, frowning up at her.

She laughed again and shook her head. But she gestured toward an empty bench. “Grab a seat while you can. I’ll get you one.”

With another rush of joie de vivre, Delphine grinned and started to pull her wallet out of her purse. “Here. Let me—”

“Don’t.” Cosima interrupted, leaving her abruptly to walk over to the ice cream vendor.

Delphine frowned as she went to sit on the one empty bench in front of the river. Cosima had no right to be grumpy with her for trying to pay for the ice cream. Those had been her terms from the very beginning. It said so on her little sheet of services. The client pays for travel, lodging, food, and whatever else was purchased over the course of an engagement. She’d exchanged some currency when Delphine did at the airport, but she assumed she’d spend her cash only on herself. Her reaction made her very uncomfortable although she couldn’t specify exactly why.

She decided it felt like they were friends. While their relationship had always been professional, they’d gotten to know each other pretty well over the last months. She genuinely liked her. And she was pretty sure she liked her back.

She supposed awkwardness was inevitable whenever the commercial aspect of their relationship arose.

Shrugging to herself, she pushed the concern from her mind. She was in too good a mood to worry about it at the moment, and Cosima was on her way back with two ice cream cones.

Although she didn’t say anything, she was ridiculously pleased that she’d gotten herself a cone too—even if it was ten forty-five in the morning.

Her terseness had dissipated on her return, so they chatted idly about Quebec and some of the tourists around them. Then they faded off into companionable silence.

“I wish I didn’t have that banquet tonight,” Delphine said eventually, breaking the lull in conversation as she started crunching on her cone.

“I thought you said your lecture last night went well.”

“It did. I just hate banquets like this. I always have to sit at the front table with all the boring, important people. It feels like I’m just there as part of the show. You know? It kind of makes me feel like I’m being used. Like an object or something.” She sighed. 

She’d always wanted to be famous, but she’d been learning that notoriety—even very minor notoriety like a best-selling romance novelist—wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Cosima made a wordless hum, but it sounded affirmative.

And it made her feel a little better. “I guess you might know what I mean,” she said unthinkingly.

She lifted her eyebrows quizzically.

Delphine swallowed hard, feeling a lump of anxiety at her careless turn of conversation. Cosima had already shown herself to be a little sensitive today, and she really didn’t want to insult her. “I mean... I just meant that maybe you know how icky it is for people to just see you as an object. I didn’t mean—”

“I know what you meant,” Cosima said quietly, licking some of her melting ice cream off her cone. “I do know.”

She let out a relieved exhalation, and she found the courage to ask, “How do you handle it?”

Cosima was quiet for a long time. So long she assumed she’d lost her. But then she finally said, her eyes focused out on the river, “You just accept it.”

And that hurt her. Unexpectedly. Sharply. In the middle of a fresh, delightful day. She knew exactly what she meant. She’d always assumed she had to hide her real self somewhere deep inside her in order to use her body the way she did.

But what she’d said implied a lot more than that. She'd accepted it. That this was who she was. This was her whole worth. Just an object to be used.

And, sitting there on a bench in front of the St. Lawrence River, Delphine hated Cosima’s father with a passion that was both fiery and irrational. Whoever the man was, whatever the man had done, he’d convinced her daughter that she had no intrinsic value.

She was conscious of a tiny flicker of awareness that hinted at the hypocrisy of her hatred. After all, Delphine had spent the last six months paying Cosima for her body. But it didn’t feel that way to her—not really—and she couldn’t let herself think too deeply about it anyway.

She knew Cosima was an adult and had the power to make her own decisions about her life. But she still hated her father. Wished she knew who the man was.  
She crunched on the last of her ice cream cone and tried to summon back her giddy happiness with the day.

“The banquet should only last a couple of hours,” Cosima said. “Right?”

Delphine perked up a little. “Right. They said it should be over by eight or eight thirty. And we have all day tomorrow before we fly back.” She still had most of the weekend before her, and all she had to do was sit through one boring banquet.

“We can go out after the banquet tonight if you want,” Cosima suggested. “I’m sure we can find something interesting to do. What did you want to do this afternoon?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’m going to need lunch in a little while.”

Cosima’s mouth twitched a little, and she knew he was thinking about the ice cream cone she’d just eaten. She was still finishing off her cone, and Delphine watched as she put the last bite in her mouth and then licked the remnants of melted ice cream from her lips.

Impulsively she leaned over and pressed her lips against hers. She licked her lips too, absurdly thrilled when she could still taste a little ice cream.

Gently pulling her closer to her, Cosima wrapped her arms around her and deepened the kiss. Her tongue met hers and teased it a little before she slipped it farther into her mouth.

She moaned softly as she stroked the back of her head, loving the smooth texture of her dreads beneath her fingertips.

The kiss was lovely, but she didn’t feel particularly urgent. She’d been exhausted last night after the flight and the lecture, so when they’d had sex before bed, it had been gentle, unhurried, and under the covers. She’d thought if she spent a weekend with Cosima, she’d want to rip her clothes off constantly. But she felt more relaxed than anything else. While she was sure they’d have sex at least once today, she wasn’t desperate to run back to the hotel room.  
She wasn’t exactly sure why. She didn’t think it was because she was finally getting sated with Cosima’s services, but she wasn’t sure how to explain it.  
Cosima had moved one hand up to curve around the back of her head, and her other hand cupped her cheek. It was warm against her skin. Sometimes the warmth of her hands, her whole body, still surprised her—for a woman who always looked so cool.

“Did you have any ideas for lunch?” Cosima mumbled against her mouth.

It seemed perfectly natural to continue their conversation in the midst of the kiss, so Delphine didn’t try to pull away. “I don’t know. Maybe we can go somewhere around here since our hotel is close by.”

They were staying at the Château Frontenac, of course. Delphine wasn’t about to visit Quebec and stay anywhere else.

“And this afternoon? We still have several sites on our list we haven’t gotten to yet.” Cosima’s hand was tangled in her hair as she pressed little kisses on her lips.

She smiled against her mouth. “Yeah. Maybe we can do those tomorrow.”

“Did you have something else in mind for the afternoon?” The timbre of Cosima’s voice hinted that she knew what Delphine was thinking.

Delphine laughed, feeling her joie de vivre return. “I did.” She dropped her hands and pulled back from the embrace. “I think I’m going to need a nap.”  
  
  
Delphine actually took a nap.

She was tired from the trip the previous day, the lecture, and a morning of walking around Quebec, and she needed to be “on” that evening, so she wanted to have enough energy to go through the requisite schmoozing and smiling. So, after she and Cosima had a leisurely lunch on the terrace of a quaint restaurant, they went back to the hotel and she took a nap.

Cosima picked up a book and looked perfectly content to read while she snoozed. But when she woke up about an hour later and glanced over to her side of the bed, Delphine saw she’d fallen asleep too.  
She watched her for a minute. The book lay on the bed beside her, and one of her hands was resting on her belly. She still wore the black T-shirt and grey trousers she’d been wearing all day, although she’d taken off her shoes and socks. She’d never seen her sleeping. She assumed she slept the night before, but she’d been awake when she fell asleep and when she woke up. For some reason it felt weird to watch her sleep now.

She looked different—without the smooth demeanour she wore like a designer suit. She saw little creases on the corners of her eyes and noticed a long, faint scar just under her right ear. Her chest rose and fell with her steady breathing, and her eyes rested for a long time on the way her eyelashes spread out against her skin.

Part of her was fascinated by Cosima’s humanness. By the fact that she did something as natural as sleep.

But she also felt an odd twisting of her belly. An uncomfortable heaviness in her gut. She didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t like it. So, she carefully got out of the bed and went into the bathroom, closing the door softly so she wouldn’t wake her up.  
She decided to take a bath since Cosima was asleep and the banquet was still more than three hours away. She ran hot water into the deep, old-fashioned tub and had a wonderful soak, using lavender-and-honey-scented bath oil.

She felt relaxed and drowsy when she heard Cosima’s voice from outside the door. “Delphine? Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” she called out. “Just taking a bath.”

She gave a little squeak when the door opened. She hadn’t realized her response was an invitation for her to come in, but apparently, she took it that way.  
Cosima walked into the bathroom, barefoot and rubbing her face.

Delphine was immediately self-conscious until she assured herself that there were enough bubbles in the water to keep her naked body from being the focus of Cosima’s gaze. When she sat down on the side of the tub and idly dipped her hand in the water, Delphine said with a teasing smile, “You had a nice little nap.”

She knew her tone would provoke a reaction, and she didn’t disappoint her. She narrowed her eyes and made a monosyllabic grunt.

She giggled. She never suspected she might be cranky on first waking up, and she found the idea strangely fascinating.

“How long have you been in here?” she asked, letting her hand drift in the water. “It’s getting cool.”

“I don’t know. A half hour or so. It is getting kind of cool. I was about to get out.”

She waited, assuming she’d take her words as a sign that she should vacate the premises.

She didn’t. She just leaned against the tile wall and watched her with an idle languor.

After a minute, she prompted, “I thought you were going to get out.”

“I am.” She waited for her to leave.

She stood up but didn’t move to the door. Instead, she picked up the big, soft towel from the towel warmer, looking down at her in expectation. When she didn’t move, her brows drew together. “Well?”

Delphine huffed. “Are you going to just stand there and watch?”

She made a guttural sound that was half expression of surprise and half laugh. “I’ve seen your body before.”

Frowning, she gave her her most frigid glare. While she wasn’t exactly grouchy, she was definitely not at her most accommodating after waking up from a nap. In fact, she was being rather annoying. “That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

She wasn’t quite sure what the point was, actually. So, she demanded, “If you’re not going to leave, can you please hand me the towel?”

Cosima held out the towel like an offering, but it wasn’t close enough for her to reach it from the tub. On her face was a quizzical, absolutely infuriating look—like she couldn’t believe she was being so silly.

She was sure she was doing this on purpose, but there wasn’t enough evidence of intent for her to reproach her for it.

She glared up at her, deciding she wasn’t quite as attractive as she’d always imagined. Apparently, her act with clients was so good that she was able to mostly hide this obnoxious part of her personality.

She arched her eyebrows. “Didn’t you want the towel?”

It was a challenge. Delphine knew it. And she knew she knew it. And she was trapped. She either had to stand up naked and take the towel or confess she was still self-conscious about her body.

Technically, she could demand that she give the towel to her. She was paying her for this weekend, and it was her job to please and accommodate her. But she couldn’t fathom holding that over her, taking unfair advantage of the unequal power dynamic of this situation.

Which left her no choice. She wasn’t about to back down to Cosima.

Delphine stood up, the sudsy water streaming off her skin as she lifted herself up. Cosima didn’t even make it easy on her. Her eyes raked over her naked, curvy form before she could grab the towel and wrap it around herself.

“Jerk,” she muttered, walking out of the bathroom with what she would describe as righteous wrath but Cosima would probably describe as a flounce.

Cosima followed her. “Did you just call me a jerk?”  
She stuck her chin out indignantly as she shuffled through her suitcase, which was open on a rack. She couldn’t find anything to wear. She didn’t want to get dressed for the banquet yet or put back on her jeans and top from this morning. But all the loungewear she’d brought was kind of slinky.

She definitely didn’t want to put on something sexy at the moment. Not when Cosima was sitting in a chair, leaning back with her legs stretched out as if she didn’t have a care in the world. And she was still watching her, probably just waiting for the towel to drop so she could revel in her smugness.

Finding nothing good to put on, she secured the big white towel around herself more carefully, tucking the end under as tightly as she could. Then she went over to the bed, lay down, and picked up the book she’d brought with her.

Pretended to read.

After a few minutes, she peeked over the top of the cover and saw that Cosima was still watching her, her lips twitching uncontrollably.

The bastard was just sitting there, having a private laugh at her expense.

Her own sense of humour surged up at the sight of her warm, handsome face. She had to hide behind her book so she wouldn’t see she wanted to giggle at herself.

No sense in letting her win so easily.

After a minute, Cosima asked, “Are you all right?”

She composed her face and lowered her book. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean—are you all right? You looked like you were wincing.”

Delphine thought quickly and came up with the best excuse she could on short notice. “Oh. My feet are just a little sore. From all the walking this morning.”

It sounded fairly convincing, and Cosima didn’t question it, although her eyes narrowed slightly. So, she lifted the book again and tried not to snicker at her suspicious expression.

She was concentrating on keeping a poker face so Cosima wouldn’t think she’d won her over with her smug tactics. So, she was shocked when she felt a warm hand on her bare ankle.

She squeaked and jerked her foot away.

Cosima had moved over to sit on the end of the bed, and stared at her like she was crazy.

“You startled me,” she said, explaining her dramatic reaction. “What are you doing?”

She actually wouldn’t be opposed to sex now, if Cosima could manage to keep from acting obnoxiously about it.

“You said your feet were sore. I was going to rub them.”

“Oh.” She stretched her legs out again and watched her warily as she set her foot in her lap. “I thought you might be trying to tickle.”

Cosima gave a dry huff of laughter. “I wouldn’t dare when you’re in this mood.”

“What mood is that?”

“I believe prickly might be the word.” The corner of her mouth tilted up irresistibly as she started to give her foot a firm massage.

Delphine couldn’t hold back a long sigh at how good her hands felt. But she wasn’t yet ready to admit surrender. “Well, the word for you is obnoxious.”

“What have I done?” Her tone was innocent, and her fingers kneading the ball of her foot were delicious.

“You know very well what you’ve done. You’ve been smug and obnoxious since you woke up from your nap. Now be quiet or you’ll ruin my foot rub.”

Cosima chuckled, her soft, warm laughter wafting over her and making her smile too. She was a very odd woman, and she couldn’t seem to figure her out. She couldn’t believe she’d taunted her into getting out of the bathtub naked.

She wondered if dhe thought she was pretty.

She gave great foot rubs. She worked one foot over, deeply massaging from the toes to the heel. Then she pulled her other foot into her lap and gave it the same treatment. It didn’t take long for her to drop the book and stretch out more comfortably so she could enjoy it, making sure to tug the towel down over her thighs.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, but when her hands moved from her foot to her leg, her sighs turned to soft moans. Her hands felt incredible, and eventually she was caressing rather than massaging.

Then she started using her mouth, trailing kisses and little nips along her feet, ankles, calves, and all the way up to the back of her knees.

After several minutes of her ministrations, Delphine was fully aroused and starting to shift restlessly on the bed. And she hadn’t made it higher than her knees.

“Cosima,” she gasped at last, when her skilful mouth on the sensitive spot at the back of her knee threatened to drive her insane. “I’m finding you less obnoxious now. You can move on past my legs.”

She made a humming sound against her skin that sent delicious vibrations straight to her hot arousal. With a smile, she moved higher on the bed and took one of her hands in both of hers.

She pressed a kiss into the palm, with a gentleness that took her by surprise. But before she could fully register the gesture, she trailed her mouth up to her wrist and higher up her arm, alternately flicking with her tongue and grazing with her teeth.

Then she stroked her arms as she mouthed her throat. Every inch of her skin that she’d touched felt tingling and sensitized. Her whole body was primed, and all the parts that she hadn’t yet reached were aching for her touch.

She kissed her way up her neck and then along the line of her jaw. And then she lingered just on the edge of her mouth until Delphine couldn’t take anymore. She turned her head enough to claim her mouth.

Their lips clung to each other for several moments, and then the kiss deepened. Delphine was just getting into it, clutching at her hair and trying to rub her hips against hers, when she pulled away.

She whimpered in frustration as her face lowered again to her neck. She was dying for her. She was wet and aching between her legs, and she couldn’t stop squirming her hips.

But she wouldn’t even get to her breasts.

Finally, she decided he must be doing it on purpose. “Cosima,” she said hoarsely, pulling her head up from where she’d been sucking at a spot on her shoulder. “Stop stalling. Get to the good parts.”

She met her eyes. Her face was slightly flushed, and her body looked a little tense. That gave her hope that she was starting to get aroused herself, but he lowered her face again to trail her lips down her upper arm toward her elbow. “I can’t,” she murmured against her skin. “All your good parts are covered by the towel.”

Delphine stiffened and sucked in a sharp breath. She was still being obnoxious. She was going to make her take off her towel before giving her what she wanted.

Obviously, she’d seen the various parts of her body before, but she’d always kept something on, so she didn’t feel quite so exposed or vulnerable. Had Cosima just pushed up the towel like she’d expected, she wouldn’t have thought anything about showing her some skin.

But this was different.

“Cosima,” she whimpered, not immediately sure whether her desire or her stubbornness would hold out.

Later, she would conclude that she hadn’t really caved. It was merely her common sense that came out victorious. She’d seen her body before. And she wanted to have sex.

Why the hell should she cling to the towel?

As Cosima waited, sprawled out beside her and propped up on one arm, she slowly moved her hand to the tucked end of the towel. She felt ridiculously nervous as she started to loosen it. Cosima was gazing at her, and the sun was streaming in through the sheers on the window.

Her body looked perfectly fine in clothes, but she’d never be a swimsuit model.

She didn’t care if she was paying Cosima to be with her. She wanted her to find her attractive.

Almost delicately, she pulled the wrapped towel apart, baring her body to her view. She couldn’t even do it in stages. Not only did she reveal her breasts but also her belly, hips, thighs, and groin.

The cool air on her still-damp skin was almost shocking. Her nipples had tightened with her arousal and grew even more erect at the shift in temperature.

She saw a flicker of expression on Cosima’s face—one she couldn’t identify. But it caused her pulse to pound even faster.

To her relief, Cosima didn’t just sit there staring at her naked flesh. Almost immediately, she lowered her face to one of her breasts, and her hands moved to caress her hips and thighs.

Delphine exhaled in deep pleasure at the familiar feel of her mouth and hands on her body. And soon her self-consciousness was forgotten as her desire took on new urgency with the intensifying of the foreplay.  
Eventually her mouth moved lower than her breasts as she pressed little kisses along the line of her side and across her abdomen. She cupped both her breasts with her hands and squeezed gently as she breathed hotly against her belly.

Delphine had spread her legs and was trying to get any friction she could against her clit. “Cosima,” she begged. “Please.”

Her mouth trailed even lower. Then her jaw brushed against the strip of trimmed hair between her thighs.  
She gasped as she parted her legs even farther and then nuzzled her intimately. Before she could even process what was happening, she’d used her tongue to part her intimate folds and expose her hot arousal to the cool air of the room.

“Cosima!” she panted, trying to get her mind to work when her body was flooded with sensation.

She flicked at her clit, sending jolts of pleasure out from the touch.

She had to fight to keep her thighs apart. She wanted to squeeze around her head, around the pleasure. Her hands groped at the bedding, and she instinctively tried to rub her groin against Cosima’s mouth.

She held her thighs apart and held her in place with strong hands as her mouth worked her over. She stroked and fluttered with her tongue, dipping into her wet entrance and curling up against her inner walls. She nuzzled and rubbed against her flesh with her jaw and her nose, and occasionally even her teeth would graze her very lightly.

Delphine whimpered and panted, her body growing tighter and tighter as the sensations built up to an unbearable peak. Her hands groped around, fumbling for purchase, moving from the comforter to the headboard to her own breasts. Eventually she gave in and clutched at Cosima’s head, holding her mouth in place with shameless entitlement.

Cosima adjusted slightly to get her hand in position so she could sink two fingers inside her and pump them against her G-spot. Then she concentrated on her clit, nudging and twirling it until Delphine wanted to howl.

She started to make little sobbing sounds as she felt her climax bear down. And she shook desperately as the tension finally shattered and her intimate muscles clamped down around Cosima’s fingers.

As she panted and rode out her orgasm, Cosima kept pushing her fingers against the contractions, but she turned her head slightly to the soft flesh at the very top of her inner thigh.

She bit down.

Delphine cried out hoarsely, the jolt of unexpected pain sustaining the spasms of her pleasure.

“Oh God!” she gasped as her body began to relax. “Oh God.”

Cosima gently slid her fingers out, and she lifted her head from between her legs.

Delphine gazed down on her hazily, feeling a flush of embarrassment at how wet the lower part of her face was.

As she reached for a tissue to wipe her face, Delphine remembered what she’d been trying to wrap her mind around earlier. “You didn’t use one of those dams.”

Cosima gave a half shrug. “No big deal.”

“But you said—”

Lifting her eyebrows, Cosima reached for a condom from the bedside table. “You haven’t had sex with anyone but me, have you?”

“No,” she said slowly, randomly wondering if Cosima thought that was weird.

“How significant a chance does you think there is of my catching a disease from you?”

Delphine couldn’t help but snort, her sense of irony triggered by her dry words. She should have known Cosima had a rational reason for her atypical behaviour. Obviously, there was no reason for protection if her only sexual experience was with her

It had felt extremely intimate, but Cosima was a professional. It would be unforgivably foolish of her to forget that for even a moment.

“Right,” she said with a relaxed smile. “Thank you for that, by the way.” She inclined her head toward her pelvis to indicate the oral sex she’d just performed. “Now maybe you can do something with that condom.”

Cosima quickly pulled off her clothes, and then she rolled the condom on over her erection. She positioned herself between her legs and aligned her cock at her entrance.

But then she hesitated, scanning her face. “Did you want to use a different posit—”

“This is good,” she interrupted, bucking her hips in a futile attempt to get her inside her. She didn’t always like to make all the decisions. “Hurry up.”

She sank inside her, and then she lowered her upper body so she could kiss her.

She could still taste herself in her mouth, and she rolled her hips against the penetration of her cock.

After a lingering kiss, Cosima reared up on her arms and began to thrust. She always liked it when they got going and she started to do things on her own, without always getting her go-ahead first. That way, she could enjoy the experience without all the responsibility of decision-making.

Once she’d built up a pleasing rhythm, Cosima adjusted to put more weight on her knees. Then she pushed her legs forward toward her chest, bending them up as she went. The move allowed her to sink deeper into her body, and they both groaned at the resulting sensations.

Delphine’s body was so sensitized that she was pretty sure she could come without stimulation to her clit. She tried to rock her body with Cosima’s motion, and she hummed out silly, stifled sounds with their rhythm—something like “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”

Cosima’s face was flushed and tense above her, and her eyes seemed to devour her as dhe fucked her fast and hard.

She jerked her head to the side as she came, writhing as the pleasure sliced through her.

Cosima grunted and kept pushing into her tightened channel. She braced herself on straightened arms, and the damp skin of her face and shoulders glistened in the sun-filled room.

She kept her head turned, and her eyes squeezed shut as the penetration of her cock felt even rawer and more intense after her orgasm. She panted against the bedding and felt another orgasm coalesce.

“Delphine.” Cosima’s thick voice spoke, not far from her ear. She was still pumping into her, her strokes shorter and faster.

“Mm-hmm,” she whimpered, groping blindly until she found her shoulders to hold on to.

“Delphine.”

She liked how she said her name. It pushed her even closer to climax. Her body was starting to shake uncontrollably.

“Delphine,” Cosima rasped again, the pumping of her hips almost wild. This time she realized it wasn’t an expression of passion. She was trying to get her attention.

She managed to open her eyes although her vision was blurred. She blinked up at her and saw that her features were twisted with effort and concentration.

“Yes, damn it. Come!” she choked out, digging her fingernails in to the back of her neck as the coiled pressure inside her reached its breaking point.

She felt something unleash inside of Cosima. She was too overwhelmed to identify the exact signs, but she recognized the way she let herself go. Her rutting became almost frantic, and a blaze ignited in her eyes.

That was all it took for Delphine to come. She arched up and sobbed in stifled gasps of pleasure as her body convulsed. And her orgasm pulled Cosima into climax as well.

Her hips jerked clumsily a few times, and she choked out an incoherent word. Then she felt her body pulse as she found her release on the heels of hers.

She lowered her weight on hers for a few moments, and she felt her panting against her neck.

Then, impulsively, she turned her head slightly until her lips brushed against hers.

She kissed her back. It wasn’t a deep or focused kiss, but she liked how their lips clung together.

But then she was pulling herself up and sliding her cock out of her body. She headed to the bathroom like usual, and Delphine heard the water as she washed up.

She released a long sigh, deciding that this was a pretty good way to spend a lazy afternoon in Quebec. Then, realizing she was completely naked and not under the covers, she looked around for something to put on.

Her eyes landed on Cosima’s T-shirt, and she actually bent down to pick it up off the floor. But as she stared down at it, she decided against it. It would be unnaturally intimate for her to wear her shirt, no matter how cosy it might be.

She dropped it again, and then she gasped when she saw that Cosima was standing across the room near the bathroom, watching her.

“Sorry,” she said, feeling herself flush hotly. “Just looking for something to wear.”

“You can wear my shirt if you want,” she said, het face showing no expression.

“Nah. Just bring me something from my suitcase, will you?”

She brought over her lavender cashmere chemise, and she pulled it on while she put on her boxers.

Then she got into bed beside her and stretched out. 

“You came, didn’t you?” Cosima asked, almost diffidently.

Delphine’s mouth fell open. “Uh, yeah. Twice. Couldn’t you tell?”

“I thought so. Just making sure.”

She frowned at her. “I’m not as quiet as I used to be.”

With a twitch of a smile, she said, “I know. But you’re still pretty quiet.”

For some reason she stiffened. “Is that a problem?”

“Of course not. Constant screaming can get old pretty quickly.”

Delphine made a face, trying to force back the pang of sharp discomfort she felt when she thought about Cosima fucking other women, making them scream with pleasure, making them feel as good as she made her feel.

“Anyway,” Cosima continued, staring up at the ceiling. “It makes you more of a challenge.”

That didn’t sound too bad. She thought she’d been getting pretty vocal lately, but maybe the sounds she made weren’t as loud and obvious as she thought.  
“You don’t make a lot of noise yourself,” she said, peering at her stoic face. “So, you’re hardly one to talk.”

Cosima’s smile was a little bitter. “No one really wants to hear me.”

Delphine’s frown deepened. “What does that mean? I don’t care if you make noises.” She thought back over the grunting, panting, and guttural exclamations Cosima made in the midst of sex. “What do you say when you come?” she asked, turning to her with her characteristic inquisitiveness.

Cosima blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

“When you come it sounds like you say something. At least the last few times. What do you say?”

Cosima’s face was perfectly still for a moment. Then she gave her a dryly amused smile. “Here’s a piece of advice. Never pay any attention to what a person says when they come. Anything might be blurted out at that moment, and it rarely means anything.”

Delphine chuckled, although she recognized that she hadn’t answered her question. It was probably none of her business anyway. For all she knew, it was some other woman’s name. “Nice.”

“It’s true,” Cosima said. “Who knows what I say? I might ask you to marry me. Pay no attention.”

She snorted as she imagined such a scene. Her gigolo blurting out a proposal the moment before climax. “I wonder how much you would charge me for that,” she said with a laugh.

The silence from the other side of the bed told her she’d offended her.

Groaning, she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. Really.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it.”

But Delphine did worry about it. They’d been having a perfectly nice conversation, and she’d said something stupid. She knew by now that she didn’t like to talk about the money, but she kept bringing it up.

It was unavoidable. No matter how good a time she had with her, she could never escape one basic reality.

She was with her because she paid her.

“They have a Sunday brunch here that’s supposed to be excellent,” Cosima said pleasantly, obviously trying to move them past the awkward moment. “If we go out tonight, maybe we can sleep in tomorrow and go down to brunch before we see some more sights.”

“Sounds good,” she said, turning on her side to face her and smiling. “I’m actually getting a little hungry now. I wonder if they’ll have anything good at this banquet.”

Cosima laughed, as she’d known she would. And Delphine decided that, despite a few awkward moments, it was shaping up to be a really good weekend.

And she still had all tomorrow to look forward to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any mistakes, let me know. Have a great weekend!


End file.
